Nina Andersen BEM, Founder of Community Senior Letters
Sending and receiving these letters helps to uplift spirits, ease stress and relax the mind. This allows hope and happiness to be brought to the elderly residents at care homes, and for them to form wonderful connections. Likewise, students are able to form friendships by unleashing their inner creativity as they send letters and drawings to the care homes, as well as relieving some boredom they may be feeling.
Nina Andersen BEM, Founder of Community Senior Letters
Nina Andersen BEM founded Community Senior Letters when she was 16 years old during Covid-19.
Her inspiration for Community Senior Letters originated from her initial project, Community Senior Music, where semi-professional musicians performed concerts at various care homes. However, due to COVID-19, she pivoted from musical entertainment to letter writing, ensuring that elderly residents remained connected and uplifted during these unprecedented times.
Nina has continued to expand and manage this project ever since, and is currently leading the CSL Team, a group of motivated students, who are ensuring continued growth and success of Community Senior Letters.
Community Senior Letters has garnered significant recognition for its impactful work. This project was featured in Captain Sir Tom Moore’s ‘One Hundred Reasons to Hope’ book, had a clip on BBC Newsround, and received the Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award. Nina was honoured with a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2022.
Additional thanks goes to Matilda Gillings who helped with press and communications in 2020, and to Tara Aglionby who was monumental in publishing ‘The Heart of Our Community’, our charity book.