A YEAR of friendship between schoolchildren and older people in Keighley has been documented on film.

A student film crew followed Holy Family School students as they befriended older members of the Roman Catholic parishes in Keighley and Silsden.

The resulting film, Making Memories, will be premiered at Keighley Picture House on Friday, November 9 at 2pm.

Michelle Vink, one of the leading lights of Making Memories, said the project was not simply about recalling old memories but also about creating new ones.

She said: “It focuses on a friendship-building journey between a group of older people from the Catholic parishes and a group of Year Nine pupils.”

The project began in November last year with support from the Embrace Project

at Catholic Care.

Michelle and Damian Moore, both from the Making Memories project, spoke passionately about bringing different generations together to build long-term friendships.

Michelle said: “It then grew into a series of monthly meet-ups, each with a different topic: church culture, traditional games and IT, and trips out to new places.

“It illustrates over 12 months how young and old can all benefit from making lasting friendships, and also how important it is nowadays for young people to be dementia-aware.”

Jess Duncan, one of the students, said: “When we began we were afraid to ask whether they wanted a tea or a coffee and now we look forward to seeing them and enjoy the banter!”

One of the trips was to watch the West Yorkshire Dance Academy’s performance of The Jolly Postman, whose cast included some of the students.

Admission to the screening of Making Memories is free, but people should contact Helen on 07540 047973 or Michelle on 07739 975000 to check ticket availability.

Roman Catholics worship at four churches in the Keighley area: St Anne’s in Keighley town centre, St Joseph’s in Ingrow, Our Lady of Lourdes in Haworth, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Silsden.

In 2016 St Joseph’s, on Queens Road, joined with our Lady of Lourdes to become one parish.

The building used by the Silsden Catholics, in Wesley Place, was originally a Wesleyan Methodist Church built in 1870.

The earliest recorded Catholic activity in Silsden was a Catholic doctor, Dr Purcell, who lived in and practised from what is now Carmel House.

Roman Catholic Mass was celebrated in Silsden for the first time in several hundred years in 1916, in a classroom hired at the Elliott Street Council School, with a priest from St Anne’s in Keighley.

In 1920, Silsden became an independent parish under its first Parish Priest, and in 1957 the redundant Wesleyan Church in Wesley Place was bought.