OV Pen Pals – letters

New for 2020, as part of this year’s online The Great Get Together, inspired by Jo Cox, we are launching OV Pen Pals, an intergenerational scheme to connect members of our Matinee Idols programme during this time of isolation with primary school children through letters, emails and phone calls.

OV Pen Pals is supported by PwC

25 May, 2020

I am 8 years old and I am turning 9 year old and I am enjoying Art and projects and I have so much. How are you? I hope you are okay and happy! I know you might be feeling lonely, and I hope this letter cheers you up. I have been coming into school because my parents are at work. I have been doing Art, music and Lot of online stuff. I hope you like my story. I hope you have a good time. Chat soon!

28 May, 2020

How very nice it was to receive your letter. I have been in lockdown now for nine weeks and as an eighty-two-year-old living by myself, it has been a very lonely experience. I am lucky that I have two sons and six grandchildren who phone me nearly every day. My eldest son, Chris, teaches at the International School in the Netherlands and my younger son, Robin, is a cameraman but he’s not allowed to work at the moment.

When I worked, I was a dance and drama teacher and as you can see from the photos, I loved ballet. The top picture shows me balancing on tip toe when I was eight years old.

The second shows me when I was about seventeen. (I couldn’t pose like that these days!) but I did continue to work till I was eighty years old. I loved my job so much; it didn’t seem like working.

Apart from my love of dance I’ve always enjoyed writing stories and I enclose one I wrote recently and hope you enjoy it.

Best wishes

Judy