When Fuel Our Youth invited us to write a guest blog it obviously had to be something that was relevant to both young and old - and the sad fact is that in this country it’s often feels hard to bridge the gap between the two groups of society.
How often do we hear the elderly bemoaning the fact that they seem to be invisible, whilst at the same time we know that young people all too often feel they too are marginalised, if not ignored by society as a whole.
So, surprisingly, perhaps it seems that young and old may have a good deal in common.  And it seems a tragedy to us that there aren’t more opportunities for the two groups to meet and mix.  The young can learn so much from the old but the same applies the other way round:  the young can teach us so much too. 
For years, I was privileged to counsel young people and every time I met a new client, it wouldn’t take many minutes for me to realise that no matter what they looked like, what they wore or how they presented themselves, underneath these varying exteriors there were such thoroughly good people underneath.  I remember once being visited in the counselling agency by a friend; on her way out she crossed paths with a young man in full black leathers.  Her remark to me as I saw her out was along the lines of:  ‘Oh I do hope you’re not going to have to deal with him!’  But in fact her perceptions of this young man, based entirely on his appearance betrayed her prejudices rather than anything else for he turned out, of course, to be a thoroughly charming young man.  But it brought home to me how quick we are to judge people on first sight – and that if we could only bring ourselves to spend more time between the generations, some of our prejudices might be allayed.
I know some older people fear those groups of young they see hanging out on street corners, but basically any people hanging out in a group can feel intimidating to anyone who isn’t part of that group.  And rather than passing by on the other side of the street, I wish more senior citizens would stop and engage the groups of young in conversation.  Also when young people see an older person shuffling along their street, they probably think they’re looking at a sad, boring person.  But if they would only spare a minute to ask about this person’s life, they’d probably be hugely impressed at the tales of what they’ve lived through, particularly now when we still have people amongst us who lived through the second world war and who may have some fascinating, if not dramatic memories to share.
We spend a bit of time in France, and we’re always impressed there at how the generations mix.  Many families still have grandparents living with them, of course, but even when we’re out and about in the villages we notice the interaction between old and young.  Retirement homes tend to be set in the centre of a village, and when school children pass on their way home, they often stop to chat.  They all attend the local fairs and festivals.  It’s as if they all feel part of the same community and therefore have something in common;  the young are brought up to respect their elders and to smile and look everyone in the eye, and the older folk retain an interest in the young folk and all their goings on.  And I’ve heard of nurseries in France which are set in the same buildings as retirement homes specifically so that the senior citizens and the toddlers can mix, mingle and benefit.
So perhaps we only need to look over the Channel in order to come up with a formula for bridging the gap.