Episode 1 Old School with the Hairy Bikers

The first day back at school is a stomach-churning experience.

I used to hate it. There used to seem like

this interminable stretch in front before the next holidays.

Oh, it's just desperation and dread.

We're the Hairy Bikers

and we both had a tough time when we were at school.

-And for kids today, it's just as tough.

-Ba-ba-ba!

There's disruption...

-I punch stuff, I kick or I throw stuff.

-..bullying...

They're all saying how much I should kill myself,

I should jump off a bridge.

Before you say stuff about someone, you should know more about them.

..and failure.

But this struggling school has embarked on a crazy

and ambitious project

to transform the lives of young and old alike.

And we want to help.

This is like Grange Hill crossed with Last Of The Summer Wine.

Across town, there's lonely, undervalued and isolated old folk.

I've lost the knack, if you like.

What will happen when we bring the quiet and the noisy together?

Come on, you can do it.

There we are, darling, ten is up.

Will they get on?

They're just as likely to pull a knife out and kill you.

-Obnoxious, rude.

-White working-class kids are going down the drain.

They just stay in with their little box TVs and their knitting.

CHEERING

-If young and old can win each other over...

-I brought you some flowers.

-Oh, lovely.

-..could they transform each other?

With the old stronger...

-He's a boss, he's a beast.

-..the young brighter...

..and both happier.

I've never had a selfie done. And it was lovely.

Do you think the project is going to work?

Um, I don't know.

-ALL:

-Old School!

Oxford is famous as a city of dreaming spires.

But a few miles away, in the 1960s, slums were pulled down

and one of the biggest housing estates in Europe was built.

We're on our way to Blackbird Leys,

where nearly half now live under the poverty line.

At its heart, a struggling school,

where this bold new experiment pairing kids and pensioners

from the same background is about to take place.

I didn't expect it to look like this.

I mean, it's really rather smart.

-It's a beautiful building, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Tomorrow, a new term starts - and hopefully a new beginning.

First off, we're meeting the headmaster.

Neil, what's the community's perception of the school?

The perception of the school, basically, is that

it's an underperforming school, that behaviour is poor.

-Do you have a full roll at the school?

-Absolutely not,

-we are about...approximately 600 undersubscribed.

-Oh, gosh!

In 2014, just 28% of pupils at the Oxford Academy

achieved GCSE grades A to C, some of the lowest results in Britain.

So there is a massive amount riding on this,

-it's a huge gamble for you, Neil.

-Yes, it is.

I think it's a huge gamble in terms of the school's future,

but I believe in the project.

Like everything, you weigh things up, and I think it's worth the risk.

I'm visiting Robbie, one of our keenest recruits.

-Hello, mate, how are you doing?

-How you doing?

Yeah, good. How are you?

-I'm doing all right.

-Yeah?

-Any chance of a cup of tea?

-Oh, why not?

-Go on.

-How do you take your tea, Dave?

-Oh, just a drop of milk,

builder's. Thank you very much.

'Robbie's school attendance isn't good, but he cares for his mum,

'who has ME, and his three younger sisters.'

When I'm not at school, mostly it's helping my mum around the house

and whatever else she needs.

She'll keep telling me, "Go in, go in, I'll be fine,"

but I know she's not going to be fine. I can't just leave her.

So I just start feeling guilty if I go to school, so the majority

of time now, I will stay and try to help her the best I can.

It's funny, because I had a similar situation myself.

My mum was ill, then my dad got ill.

It was hard going to college and then coming back

and having to do the shopping and the looking-after, you know?

With my sisters as well,

they're quite the handful because there's three of them.

-Crikey, so you really are the man of the house.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

'Rob is a child carer, the same as I was.

'I kind of understand where he's coming from.

'My mum and dad both became very ill,

'and I tried to nurse them both.'

So obviously, I couldn't go to school. So, was I a truant?

Well, of course not - I couldn't go to school

because I had a sense of moral obligation to my family.

Robbie has five GCSEs, but his recent poor attendance

means he is in danger of being expelled from sixth form.

Would your first priority always be your sisters and your mum?

Yeah, they always come first.

-You have got a lot on your plate, haven't you?

-Yeah.

-I mean, that is the bottom line of it.

-I manage.

I know you manage, but we want more out of life than managing.

I think you need a few treats yourself.

Cheers, Robbie, thank you.

Robbie cares more about other people than himself.

And if anybody says the stereotypes about selfish teenagers,

then...they are not all selfish,

and there is a young man there who isn't.

-Pleased to meet you.

-And you.

-How are you, you all right?

I am OK, thank you.

You've got a good 'un here, haven't you?

Oh, he's amazing, absolutely amazing.

-Thanks, Sonia, thank you.

-You're welcome.

Robbie wants some friendship, guidance and somebody to talk to.

This project is not just for youngsters, but old people too.

When we made a TV series about Meals on Wheels,

we worried many had little to look forward to.

Now, old and young will pair up to listen to each other's problems

and hopefully transform their lives.

Well, because we have got lazy parenting...

..white working-class kids are going down the drain.

There seems to be a break in the white working-class attitudes

to the need to do something.

We didn't have a choice when we were kids.

The day after I was 15, you had to have a job.

Dave worked for years in the local car factory

and hopes to pass on some of his skills.

I thought, "Ooh, yeah,

"I wouldn't mind helping a couple of kids do something."

They might tell me to bugger off, they might tell me,

"You don't know nothing, you silly old fool,"

or something, I don't know.

Nearly half our pensioners live alone with no-one to turn to,

many even afraid to go out.

Rick used to be a supermarket manager.

I don't go out to play snooker or any of these things any more.

I've lost interest in, erm...

..socialising.

I need to find more interests.

You can't find an interest in a flat, can you?

I'm excited about this, it is a completely new experience for me.

# All we need is somebody to lean on... #

Morning, everybody.

Start of the school year, brilliant.

You've all been bored by the holidays, haven't you?

Morning, everybody. Good morning, good morning. Jay, how are you?

Good morning. Ties, please, fellas.

Welcome back. I hope you had a really brilliant summer.

Can we welcome Si and Dave?

You're much better than Jamie Oliver, aren't you?

-Oh, aye!

-Much better than Jamie Oliver.

Give them a round of applause

and they'll come and explain things to you.

-Thank you.

-Morning, sir and sir.

Morning. How are you all?

MURMURED RESPONSES

Good.

Well, thank you very much for coming to the assembly.

It is a very exciting day for us,

where we kind of properly launch the project Old School.

-It's never been done in England before.

-No.

And we believe that Oxford Academy is the perfect place to launch this.

Because a lot of the elderly people,

while they can give you a lot, they also want quite a lot from you,

and we believe that you have got a lot to give them.

And it's about bringing you both together

and seeing what you can learn from each other.

-And I cannot think of a better place to do it.

-Thank you.

Right, guys, in you come.

Headmaster Niall has recruited a group of his students

as guinea pigs for the experiment.

These students have been selected to take part in the Old School project

because all 12 of the students have experienced

some form of difficulties.

In we come. Last but not least.

Now, that might be attendance issues, punctuality issues,

problems outside of school or overall academic underachievement.

First, the school give our students a self-esteem test.

At the end of term, they will repeat it to see if they are happier

and more confident and doing better academically.

You need to make sure that you read every question

and then you have got the option of yes or no.

You need to be as honest as you possibly can with this.

"Do you feel that you are as happy as others are?"

"Do you feel as though your family trusts you?"

Yes.

I think sometimes we take for granted that our students

are pretty happy at home and at school, and I think as teachers,

we don't like to think that they wouldn't feel good about themselves.

"Are you ever sad?"

-(Yes.)

-'Self-esteem is a massive barrier to their learning.'

"Do you have friends you can...confide in?"

'Last year, 13-year-old Tawne had issues with bullying

'and missed over a third of her lessons.'

At one point, everyone in my year group was against me.

No-one would speak to me, and I was just completely alone.

My attendance now is at 70%, and it won't go back up,

because I took a good three months off school.

"Do you ever get angry?" Yes.

'Jacub, also in Year 9, must take tablets for his ADHD every morning

'before he is allowed to come to school.'

You wouldn't really notice I have got ADHD

when I take my medication, but you would notice that

I have got anger issues, because I get really, really angry easily.

I can be funny sometimes,

but I end up crossing the line most of the time.

-TEACHER:

-"Do people like your ideas?"

No.

'It seems far-fetched

'that simple friendships across generations

'will make a big difference, but research in the US and Japan

'suggest this can improve the minds and strength of the old

'and the confidence and exam results of the young.'

It's the start of a new school day, and Jacub is rushing.

Late, as usual.

-Can you take that off the side, please?!

-Sorry!

-Jesus.

-Don't start with your mouth this morning.

-I'm not, I'm just saying.

-High five.

-See you later.

-Gimme a high five.

-Give Jacub a high five.

Yeah.

-Jacub, no C4s.

-Oh, my days, man.

Jacub is not supposed to go to school

unless he has taken medication for his ADHD.

The reason I wouldn't want to take my medication is because,

like, two hours after I take it, I feel sick, and I almost be sick.

When I take it, I am much more calm.

But I don't like being calmer, because it's not...who I like to be.

I like to be, like, hyper and energetic.

Although there's 12 students,

we've only got half the old people signed up.

So the kids have been challenged to help find the rest themselves.

They are already in the art room,

designing posters to take to the local shopping centre.

-I'm going to do an egg on mine as well.

-An egg?

Yeah, an egg, cos it's food.

-Hairy Bikers - duh!

-Yeah, but this ain't about food, is it?

Duh(!)

-Ohhh.

-Ohh.

-How are you doing?

-Hello. Are you well?

-Yeah.

-Good.

-This table, it looks...

-It's a creative table.

-Oh, wow.

Nice to meet you. Hi, I'm Si.

Tell you what, hold on, look.

-Hey, this is great.

-It's brilliant.

-Well done, well done.

Si, look. There's everything we can get into. Cooking, texting, food...

YouTube, music, singing, dancing...baking.

-Well, we can help with that.

-DAVE LAUGHS

'These kids want help,

'but they are sceptical about what pensioners have to offer.'

The things we do and the things they do are completely different.

They just stay in with their little box TVs and their knitting stuff...

and we have our big plasma TVs.

Because they don't really speak to us

and communicate with us, they probably think

that we are horrible and we don't want to know them.

They just sit in all day and tend to avoid other people.

That's what my nan and gramp do, anyway.

Do you think they sit in and tend to avoid other people

or do you think it is because they are actually quite shy and lonely?

It's like...

my gramp doesn't understand how to speak to teenagers.

He will find it quite awkward to start a conversation with us.

Have you finished your posters and stuff?

-Are you happy with them?

-Yeah.

-Great.

-Yeah, smashing.

The yellow bus. Right.

'You know what, Kingy? This is definitely more fun.

'Well, than double maths.'

What sort of an old person are you hoping to find?

Someone with a good personality and...

Someone you can have a really good conversation with

and they know what you're talking about.

That's quite important to you, isn't it?

Yeah. Someone that understands you.

And someone that...

Say if you open up to them, they know how you are feeling,

you can tell them about how your life has been

and how you want it to turn out and that.

'As well as his ADHD, Jacub has also been forced to cope with

'the death of his father eight years ago.'

We used to always, like, go on my bouncy castles and trampolines,

swimming pool, we used to always go swimming, bike rides, and then...

he just died.

-It's a hard journey, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Cos my dad died when I was eight.

And every...

You're left to deal with everybody

-who's really sad in the family, aren't you?

-Yeah.

Because it is not something that you ever think is going to happen,

-do you?

-No.

-Until you get older.

Right, we're here!

'First stop on our recruitment drive - the local shopping centre.'

Right, hold on, hold on. Coming through, Jacub coming through.

JACUB LAUGHS

This is like Grange Hill crossed with Last of the Summer Wine.

THEY LAUGH

Right... Oh, brilliant! Look at this.

Great.

Let's go.

'The plan is to divide and conquer.

'I'm taking Milly, Tawne and Bethany...

'while Jacub strikes out on his own.'

But it isn't easy.

Many of the old people are scared of young antisocial behaviour.

The teenagers today are too inclined to, shall we say, be violent.

They're just as likely to pull a knife out and kill you,

I think it's terrible.

-We are doing a community project.

-Mm-hmm.

-So it is basically...

Oh, sorry. Sorry.

You're all right.

Maybe another time, maybe another time, but not at the moment, like.

Working with teenagers is lying around,

doing nothing, going nowhere.

Not looking for work.

Years ago, we had to work to get everything we wanted,

but these days, they just have it on a plate.

'And I think we are asking a lot of our old folk.'

No, sorry, I'm far too busy.

'They need to commit to a two-hour meeting every week

'for the entire autumn term.'

How do you fancy adopting some more grandchildren?

-No.

-Oh, no, thank you.

-No?

-No.

You've got the time, you've got the freedom, you've got the expertise.

-No, we WANT the time and the freedom, don't we?

-Aww.

Robbie has had a smart idea.

He's brought his games console in hope of enticing the oldies...

with the promise of IT training.

Heyyy!

Boom!

Oh, now I have... WOMAN LAUGHS

-Oh, God.

-You can have a go.

-No, no.

'And it seems to be working.'

That grabs it, and then you lift and chuck.

-Oh, good heavens.

-Yep.

-Do you know your number?

-No.

-You don't?

-WOMAN LAUGHS

'The offer of practical help with the modern world

'is striking a chord with the pensioners.'

MOBILE PHONE CHIMES

-This is a hello I've sent from your phone.

-Oh, I see.

-Oh, thank you, dear.

-You're welcome.

-Come on. Oh, me lipstick.

-And what's your name?

-And even Milly and Tawne have got involved!

We're both 13 and we're going into Year 9.

-It was really hard at first, like...

-Yeah.

..getting the confidence up and gradually getting into it,

but then we come up with a plan and eventually did it.

Yeah!

Bring it in, yeah. Well done.

Call me a cynical old fella,

but I didn't think people would sign up,

especially when confronted in a shopping centre,

but people have, and people have engaged with it.

-Did you guys like school?

-Very much.

-I loved it, I loved it.

It is a week since our trip to the shopping centre,

and we have signed up all 12 elderly recruits.

And they are going back to school for the first time in decades.

I was last at school, I was 15 and a half.

It was 1964, and I didn't like school,

and the feeling of going back is actually making my stomach churn.

It's like going into school and starting school again.

I am a bit nervous of what the kids will expect of us.

-Good morning, good morning.

-Are you all right? Give me a hug.

Good morning, sir.

-Hello, welcome back to school.

-Yes, nice to be back.

Hello, love. Welcome to Oxford Academy.

Trust me. Are we beautiful? Are we beautiful?

Back to school, eh? How does it feel?

I can't remember. That was about 70, 75 years ago when I left school.

By the end of today,

each of these old folk will be matched to a younger person.

The success or failure of the entire Old School project

rests on these pairings hitting it off.

-Welcome to the Oxford Academy.

-Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for having us.

-Hi.

-I'm Vic, pleased to meet you.

-Bethany.

Hello, pleased to meet you.

This is Ky, Kyrone, and this is Jacub, and...

-DAVE AND SI:

-..Kimberly.

'Ey-up, mate, it's a bit like the first contact in a sci-fi film.

'It's no wonder, mucker.

'With an average age gap of 50 years between the two generations,

'will they even speak the same language?'

How long have you...? I don't even know

-what I'm supposed to be saying.

-How long have I...

-lived?

-I don't know!

Thank you.

When we were at school,

we used to have to take a ration book to get your dinner.

If we spoke to t'headmaster, it was trouble.

Listen, times have changed, times have changed.

-I speak to everybody every day.

-I'm terrified here.

I promise, I promise, I give you my Scottish word,

we will look after you.

-I am overwhelmed by it all.

-No, don't get overwhelmed by it.

I'm just gobsmacked by it all, never been in the place.

I feel a bit emotional, actually.

71-year-old Dave hasn't set foot in a school for over half a century.

It's wonderful, innit? I mean, everything about it.

The teachers...

We couldn't talk to our teachers.

Christ.

Do you know, when we were kids,

if you spoke to a teacher out in the street, you were in trouble.

I've never been in a school like that.

I feel so stupid.

I'm terrified.

Absolutely terrified.

Just everything.

Now, this is the moment we have all been waiting for, really.

-Yes, this is it.

-Where we meet our future chums.

I know for us, as Hairy Bikers, when there's two of you,

-as a team, you are infinitely stronger than two individuals.

-Yeah.

So, Jamie, we're going to need the two builders over there...

To get them talking and finding out about each other,

they start off with some games.

Then they will pick their favourite partner.

-This the driver?

-Yeah, that is the driver.

-The two orange bricks on the second row.

-I can't see what colour it is.

A man in the front.

Is there men in the front?

Facilitator Professor Charles Irvine has organised the games.

Find yourself a juicy apple to talk to, please.

He wants everybody to meet everybody,

because scientists have shown

you can suss a person out in under a second.

I'm also a very loyal person.

I play, like, zombie games and that.

I've got Dead Rising and Dead Rising 2, and I've got Island of the Dead.

I stick to watching sport these days and I do collect stamps.

Everyone draws up a shortlist, and not all can have their first choice.

Head teacher Niall knows these kids better than anyone,

and he helps advise on the final pairings.

When we look at Wezley and David...

-Perfect.

-Absolutely A1 perfect choice.

-Brilliant.

-OK.

-Milly is really brilliant.

-Yep.

But something she needs confidence and a bit of calmness,

and I think that's perfect too, yeah.

We're looking at Jacub and Clive.

-And Jacub, he has a real good vitality.

-Yeah.

Listen, vitality and energy are two words

that sum Jacub up, when quite often he's disappearing

down the corridor and I'm chasing after him.

OTHERS LAUGH

You know, Kingy, this genuinely is a big moment.

Because the names are being put on the seats.

I just hope with all my heart that nobody looks at the other

and goes, "Oh, no", and their body language tells disappointment.

You're never going to be able to dot every I and cross every T.

Please come inside and find your picture and find your chair.

Dave!

With the boxer.

We would like to introduce you to your new partners.

What I'd like you to do now, please,

is start to get to know each other.

I thought that'd be really nice for you.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome, you're more than welcome.

'I've been matched with Tawne, which is absolutely brilliant,

'because she put me down as her first one as well,

'because we found it easy to speak.'

She seemed a bit shy, so I spoke to her and that,

and that was when she told me she didn't like to come to school

because she had been bullied, and that's what got to me.

In those days, people didn't base it off where you come from,

now you can joke about it.

'I've been matched with Wezley.'

And I put his name on the list and he put mine,

its such a wonderful thing.

I would have picked him. Yeah, yeah.

He would be a good son to have, actually.

Anyway, I'll see you again.

Well, we have put the relationships together...

-They're young shoots, they need nurturing.

-They do.

It's interesting, these characters together -

the relationships will develop, and we have absolutely no control

over what's going to happen.

No, and the big step is, for a while now, they are on their own.

Three weeks in,

and our newly formed partnerships are meeting up for the first time.

What's important is, we've not brought olders in from outside,

they're from the same community, so they should have plenty in common.

-Hiya.

-Hi, Bethany.

-I've brought you some flowers.

Oh, lovely, thank you very much.

You're welcome.

Each week, students will be taken out of lessons

chosen by teachers to minimise disruption to their education.

This is 1964, look. Oh, I got a B minus there for English.

Instead, they'll spend an hour with their senior partners,

who will hopefully get them to talk about their biggest worries,

ones they can't talk about with their parents and friends.

-Big school, isn't it?

-It's a massive school.

-Massive, yeah.

It's end of break,

and Year 9 Jacub is off to his first partnership meeting.

-Go on.

-Oi!

It's on my back, I'm not stupid!

BELL RINGS

I'm feeling nervous, because it is my first meeting with Clive

and I don't know how it's going to go.

But I'm happy at the same time, because I like Clive as well.

Jacub's partner Clive joined Old School

along with his wife Marina.

They've found life hard

since they tragically lost their son Matthew to a heroin overdose.

That's Matthew, erm, just before he died.

You look at him, you wouldn't think he was on drugs.

Obviously it affected us quite badly.

Obviously, you grieve. At the start, it's there and it's happened.

But then the shock comes later, I think.

I feel a bit guilty not sort of noticing

how strong he was into drugs.

Well, it is the reason I went into the Old School project.

Perhaps it would help me with the loss of Matthew

if I could help someone to go down the right path.

Good morning, I'm here to see Jacub.

There you go.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Hello, Jacub.

-All right, Clive?

-How are you?

-Good, you?

-Yeah.

-I'm going to take you round for a tour of the school.

-Ahh.

Miss, can you buzz us out, please?

-Thank you!

-Where we going this morning, then?

Dunno, probably just take you to the C4 room,

cos that's where I spent most of my time in Year 7.

I was always getting C4-ed and I was always getting in trouble.

What does the C stand for then?

I don't know, really, it's like detention.

it's like a sanction, basically.

-Yeah.

-Hello, Jenny.

-Hello.

Don't worry, I haven't got a C4.

If you get a C4 you have to sit in one of these cubicles,

-which is boring.

-That's the whole point of it.

You have to sit here and just do your work, bored.

You have to face there, bored.

13-year-old Milly is also meeting her partner

for the first time today.

Milly has been paired up with Janey, a writer and former foster mother.

-Hi.

-Good morning, Milly.

Well, this is awkward.

-INTERVIEWER: What do you want to say to Janey?

-I don't know.

-What do you normally say when you meet someone?

-Nothing.

'This is a bad start. Learning mentor Julie tries to help.'

-What's the matter?

-It's winding me up, I don't want to do it.

-Who is winding you up?

-This whole thing,

it's just stupid, I don't want to do this any more.

Do you want to come and talk for a minute?

I want to go to my lessons. I don't want to do this.

OK, do you still want to come and talk for a minute? Come on.

MILLY SIGHS

71-year-old Dave is here for the first meeting with Wezley.

Meeting young people is a little bit daunting for somebody my age.

Sorry to trouble you, I wonder if you could tell me

where Wezley is, please?

Just hold on there, I will just have a little look at his timetable.

Worst thing I think could happen is, I will make a mess of it.

That I won't be able to respond, because I'm deaf,

which doesn't help.

Dave's partner is 16-year-old Wezley, who has a passion.

Boxing means everything to me, my dream is to be very successful.

Hopefully turn professional one day.

At school, Wezley is always getting into scrapes.

Last year, he was excluded for six days.

I have always been in trouble.

I have always been the aggressor in school.

I was always going around hitting people,

because of short temper, short attention span.

He's trying to turn things around,

but his challenge is balancing school life with his boxing dreams.

My biggest fear for the future is that if I don't do boxing,

then nothing is going to turn out for me and I won't be successful.

-Hello, Wezley.

-How you going, all right?

Thanks for being so quick, I appreciate that.

It was only a week ago on pairing day

that Dave was overwhelmed at how schools have changed since his day.

What we get is, we get a timetable where there's a piece of paper

and it tells you what classroom you are in, what time it is...

So it's scheduled for you from the school, as it were?

-Scheduled from the school, yeah.

-Ah.

Right, I'm going to take you to drama,

because that's one of my best lessons ever.

I have never, ever got a C4 in that lesson.

But the reason I like it is, I am in a school play now,

-I am in Romeo and Juliet.

-I wouldn't have thought

-you would have liked drama.

-I love it.

It is one of the best lessons ever, it is one of the best rooms ever.

Talking and sharing might not seem a lot,

but these are important first steps in building the confidence

and trust that can lead to dramatic improvements for old and young.

This is one of the scripts that we're doing. I'm Tybalt.

But I get killed off!

-Who are you, Ty...?

-I get killed off, it's not fair.

-Aww.

-I get stabbed.

-How long does your part last?

I've only got, like, a few lines,

-because I get killed halfway through.

-Ahh.

That's why I wanted to be Romeo, because I'd get most of the lines.

-Yeah.

-It's good though.

-I like it.

-That's brilliant.

-I'm nervous about the play, though.

-How do you find learning the words?

-Your script?

-We do it in the old-fashioned language as well.

I can read them, but I don't really know what they mean.

I know that "thou" means "you".

I just read from the script because I don't know what the words mean.

-Yeah, but that's how they spoke in those days, isn't it?

-Yeah.

They used to swear as well, spit in their thumb and go like that...

-And go like that with their thumb.

-Oh, was that like a swear word?

Yeah, it's eff you, basically.

-Oh, is it?

-What phrase did you use when you were a kid?

Because we use phrases now, like, say if we're going to

hit someone, we say, "Oh, we're going to bang him",

or, "We're going to spark him in his face."

-Spark him?

-Yeah, we mean, like, hit him in his face,

because that's how we talk now,

I don't know how used to say it when you were kids.

Yeah, we didn't have this new-fashioned...

Like you lot, sparking... Just, you'd say, "I'm going to thump you."

Thank you so much for taking me round, Wezley.

-That's really marvellous.

-Thank you.

For our partners to bond, they need to find common ground.

I went to see Cassius in the Cooper fight.

-Oh, did you?

-Yeah, cos Henry Cooper I used to know very well.

-Did you?

-Yeah. Cooper twins, yeah.

-No way.

Jesus, I didn't know that.

I chose Dave on my sheet in the first place

because he mentioned something about how he used to box, and I think

that if someone used to box, then you can relate to them that way.

The thing is, Wezley, I have got to ask you certain things,

because we're mates now. You take me as a mate, don't you?

I class you as a mate, David, why not?

Well, what do you want to do long-term?

Well, it has to be involved with boxing, of course,

so maybe a boxing promoter, I don't know.

-I'd like to promote.

-A sports promoter.

-Sports promotion, yes.

They are all good things, but you've got to have...

My life has taught me something different.

-What you have got to have is a backstop.

-Yeah.

Because life has got a funny habit of coming along

and smacking you straight in the face.

So did you have dreams when you were younger?

I had dreams of everything.

My dreams had to change, like yours do, every six months.

-Mine never change.

-Well, they will.

Things will change for you.

I spoke to Wez on the basis of my normal approach, which...

I call it tough love.

I hope that I have been able to influence him enough to make choices

which are beneficial to him and the people around him.

We're not middle class, we're working class, that's my hang-up.

You ain't got a rich daddy to fall back on,

and you've got to have something that feeds you.

Cos boxing doesn't feed you.

I felt a bit heartbroken, because I actually joined this project

because I wanted positive advice towards my goals.

So I felt a bit like I didn't want to get involved with

the project any more, I wanted to quit.

What about maths? Are you any good at maths?

Well, I've got ADHD and that,

I can't sit down for more than five minutes in maths without fidgeting.

I can, like, write some of them.

Once I've finished writing something,

I end up turning around, like, messing around.

If they say I can go outside for five minutes to calm down,

yeah, that's fine.

But if they keep me into the lesson, I end up getting into trouble.

Like, if I take my medication, yeah, I'm fine.

But, like, if I don't take it, I'm like a rocket.

I'm bouncing off everything.

So you lose your temper if you don't have your medicine? You lose it?

If I take my medicine, then I don't need my anger as quick.

If I don't take it I'm like,

I can go from happy to angry in a matter of seconds.

I punch stuff, I kick stuff, I throw stuff.

If I take my medicine, I can be, like, a really nice person.

If I get angry and I take my medication,

I calm down, like, straight after.

That's why the school refused to have me in school

if I don't take my medication.

I would like to talk to Jacub more about this ADHD

and try and help him.

Erm...

But I think that would be, you know, later on down the line,

when we've got to know each other a little better.

Yeah, cheers for coming, anyway. I can't wait till next time.

-Well, it's nice to see you again, Jacub.

-I can't wait till next time.

I'm looking forward to it.

And look at Jacub. He just chats away. I can't do that.

I don't know what to say or anything, so I don't want to do it.

-So you're generally struggling?

-Yeah.

-See you next time.

-Yeah, see you.

-Take care.

DAVE: 'Jacub and Clive's meeting seems a success.

'But it's a different story for Janie and Milly.'

I don't want to do this.

It's annoying me now.

Milly's pulled out of Old School

which, as far as I know, means I have, too.

I feel quite sad,

because I was looking forward to getting to know Milly.

'The pensioners, like the kids, will be monitored.

'Dr Carol Holland of the Research Centre for Healthy Ageing

'is doing the tests.'

-Any word beginning with "P".

-Yeah.

-OK.

'Studies show getting out and forming new relationships

'can boost health and mental agility in older people.'

So squeeze as hard as you can when you're ready.

'These tests will be repeated in 12 weeks' time

'to see if there are any signs of improvement.'

-Hi, there. Hi, Dave, you're next.

-I'm next?

-Thank you.

-Come on in.

'In the spirit of partnership,

'I've decided to give the tests a go.'

So that was a very nice walking speed there.

-Oh, I do do good walking.

-You do. Yeah, that's very good walking.

Ready, and go.

'Along with measuring my walking speed, I'm doing a sit-to-stand...'

Brilliant. I'll make a note of that.

'..and the grip strength test.'

Just squeeze as hard as you can.

So release.

My mother used to say, when I was a baby, I had stranglers' hands.

'Carol also does cognitive tests.'

I'm going to read you some words

and, for each word,

I want you to think of a memory that that reminds you of.

The first word is board.

Board...

I always remember we used to have a teacher at school called Mr Eales.

'Our senior partners need to associate each cue word

'with a specific and detailed memory.'

..and I can just see Mr Eales' chalk scratching against the blackboard.

OK.

'The more detailed your memories,

'the more of yourself you communicate

'and the better chance you'll have of forming relationships.'

The only thing I can think of to do with board is...

most probably a board meeting.

The next one is nervous.

I think I was very nervous on the first day of this project...

Right. Yeah.

-..when I came along, because I wasn't sure what to expect.

-Yeah.

-So I guess I was pretty nervous that day.

-Yeah. OK.

'The reason memory is really important is that we use it.

'We use it all the time.'

So if you meet somebody new, you're talking about yourself,

you're explaining who you are

to this new friend that you've just met.

Which, of course, is what our teenagers

and our older people are all doing.

In this particular project,

if people are doing a lot more communication and socialising,

then we would expect this kind of memory to improve over time.

'Socialising may help but, if you're living on your own,

'you don't meet people.

'That's where this project could make all the difference.

'Rick has lived entirely alone

'since the break-up of his family ten years ago.'

I do miss socialising.

I really do miss socialising, but...

..I've lost the knack, if you like.

-TV:

-So the wedding dress has been around for hundreds of years.

And it's certainly changed...

I will watch TV from sort of five o'clock until ten, 11 o'clock maybe.

That's it.

Day over.

-INTERVIEWER:

-What's life like?

Is it fair to use the word "lonely"?

Yeah. Yeah.

DAVE: 'Today he's going out to meet his partner Robbie,

'who I met at the start.'

Robbie's 16 and I'm coming up 66.

So, again, there's that large age difference between us.

It might turn out that we have got nothing in common whatsoever.

The worst-case scenario would be that Robbie...

..doesn't want to know.

'But Katie, who sets up all the meetings, has some bad news.'

-Hello, Rick. It's Katie. How are you?

-You all right?

I'm good, thank you.

Now, I'm afraid Robbie's not in today.

-He's unwell.

-Oh.

Erm, yes. So I'm really sorry.

We're going to have to arrange another time. Is that all right?

Yeah, that's fine.

I was looking forward to this afternoon.

Erm...

And...yeah, disappointed for him, disappointed for me.

So I'll just go home, cook my tea,

which is going to be a bit earlier than I thought it was going to be,

watch a bit of snooker or whatever's on TV.

-SI:

-'It's easy to assume young and old are poles apart.

'But they often have struggles in common.

'Retired nurse Judy knows just what it's like to be bullied.

When I was at school, I was bullied badly.

When I was bullied, I lost my confidence.

I lost everything.

It made me sort of go inside myself.

I felt so sick that I would do anything not to go to school.

I want to try and help children that are bullied

to bring themselves out of themselves

and tell them they're worth it.

'Today she's come to meet Tawne for the first time.'

Hello. Hi, there. Is Tawne here yet?

'I felt I'd really connect with Tawne

'because we've got so much in common.

'She was bullied at school.'

-If you just take a seat.

-Thank you.

'Tawne's missed a lot of school.'

She said that she felt that she couldn't cope with school.

And she even felt sick and didn't want to come.

I'm really excited about meeting her and talking to her

and spending some time with her.

Really excited about that.

I'm really sorry, but Tawne is not in today.

-She's actually off sick.

-Oh.

-Erm, so probably might have to rearrange.

-Right.

How disappointing.

Can we just make a note of your name?

It's Judy Watson.

'Yeah, it is hard not to take it personally.'

The very first meet and she's not here.

And I just think,

"Oh, God, she's probably changed her mind or she doesn't want to do it."

I'm worried that it's going to all fall flat.

But if anything needs to happen, it always happens to me.

Anything goes wrong, it's always me.

'It just seems really upsetting.

'I just have to wait and see what happens next week.'

-SI:

-'We always knew that pairing old and young would be tough.

'But things are not going well.'

There's a no-show there and Judy is taking that personally.

And that one is already dead in the water.

-So I'll turn these over, then.

-Yeah.

I mean, David seems intent on dashing Wezley's dreams.

And Robbie and Rick...

You know, Robbie just hasn't...

-stepped up to the plate.

-No.

There has to be an investment on both parties

or it's simply not going to work.

Because, at the minute, we haven't got that.

And I'm not entirely sure with the ones that are going a bit wrong

whether the personality types are actually capable

of making that relationship work.

Are the relationships worth pursuing in that case?

What do we do? Do we try and mould them?

Do we try and make them work or we just let go?

We're intervening in lives at crucial moments

and at crucial points.

And that's what I care about.

We can't get that wrong.

Full stop.

We can't get that wrong.

And we'll need all the support and help

that we can get from educational professionals,

from people like Niall McWilliams, who know their subject.

-I'm going to be really straight with you.

-Yep. Good.

I...

am concerned...

-Yes.

-..that we've had four relationships

-that haven't particularly worked.

-Yeah. Yeah.

Have we done something that's just not achievable here?

Have we backed a wrong 'un? What's your take on it?

-Yes, there has been a 33%, 35% drop-off, whatever it is.

-Right.

But then that would be really easy for us all to give up, isn't it?

So, therefore, what we've got to do is, we believe it's important,

therefore, we continue and continue and continue.

I don't think that we need to look at the 30% drop-off rate,

because they might very well come back.

Let's celebrate that 70% success rate

and go forward from there.

-SI:

-'OK, but we're now a month in.'

'We can't have any more failures.'

DAVE: 'Wez's relationship with Dave got off to a prickly start.

'Wez opened up about his dream of boxing professionally,

'only for Dave to tell him he should think about a day job instead.'

I didn't like what he said.

I think he needs to come and watch me

before he starts, you know, saying I need a trade.

He's quite a negative person, to be honest.

But hopefully, I can change his mind.

When I was a kid, a lot of the lads out of the Navy and all that

that came to show us, were originally bare-fist boxers.

They weren't boxers who had gloves.

We couldn't afford gloves. We had to share them.

When I box, nothing else matters.

I feel like I'm on top of the world and I'm invincible.

Nobody can beat me.

-What is he like as a boxer?

-He is good, yeah.

He's a good boxer, as opposed to a scrapper, is he?

He's dedicated, which a lot of kids are not.

If we could somehow get him to win a title or two,

then England looked at him and he'd maybe go up on the England squad,

then it just takes off.

Is he good enough for that?

Yeah. Yeah.

Anything I can do to help him?

He's at a vulnerable age now.

-He needs a bit of stability in his life.

-Yeah, he does.

-And he's not really getting it.

-We'll help.

Well done. Well done.

Now, how do you feel about that bout?

-Could have been better.

-No.

You've got a good left. You come in second with your left.

I was just saying, on points, he would have got it.

On points, Wez would have got it. There's no doubt about it.

He'd have won that bout.

He's got something extra.

Really, really has got something extra.

I'm so proud of him.

Seeing him tonight is a totally different Wez.

And the nice thing was I could see in his eyes that he knew I cared.

He showed me that he was better than I thought he was.

I dismissed him and I shouldn't have ever done that.

He's given me something tonight. He really has.

He's made me feel good.

And it's...

I haven't felt that good for a very long time about young people.

And to have a young person that's...

not long known me give me that sort of...

-My favourite man.

-All right, mate?

-All right?

..that sort of a kick, that sort of a value...

I can't, just can't explain it.

DAVE: 'Wez and Dave's relationship is now on firm ground.'

-SI:

-'But Judy and Tawne, on the other hand,

'still haven't even had their first meeting.'

'Last week, Tawne failed to show up, leaving Judy deeply upset.'

I came this morning with sort of bated breath thinking,

"Oh, gosh, is she coming today? Is she all right?"

And you just don't know, you know?

But, erm, I hope she's here, anyway.

So we just wait and see.

-Hiya.

-Hello, Tawne!

-How are you?

-I'm doing good.

Are you feeling a lot better than you did last week?

-A lot better, yeah.

-Oh, fantastic. I was worried about you.

-SI:

-'Last year, Tawne had a tough time with severe bullying.'

Everyone was calling me names.

People would follow me from school and throw stuff at me.

And I'd be, like, scared to walk between certain lessons,

walk by myself.

It made me be feel like no-one wanted to be around me,

like I was just completely, like, invisible.

'For Tawne, the bullying didn't stop at the school gates

'and the abuse continued online.'

Cyber bullying is the worst that it can get.

They were talking to themselves,

saying how much I should kill myself, I should jump off a bridge.

'It drove her to drastic ends.'

I was basically cutting myself.

I felt inside that, like, this was something

that I could do with myself

that she couldn't do to me.

And, like, I could do it and, like, I would overpower her in a way.

Like, I could do this and she couldn't.

This is just the art block.

'Tawne can now finally give Judy her school tour

'and has chosen to focus on the art department

'and to show one of her works.'

This... That one right there

with all, like, the black coming up.

Oh...!

I was really wary about what she was going to say about it

because of the particular topic that was on.

Whether she'd, like, in a way judge me for it.

I think that is absolutely fantastic.

You've done a really good job.

-You should be proud of yourself.

-Thank you.

It was all about bullying, razor blades and tears.

It was very, very sad to see a girl of that age

doing a picture like that.

I felt that this was...

this was asking for help.

DAVE: 'Jacub's also facing his demons.

'Today, he forgot to take his medication

'and now has been thrown out of his lesson for being disruptive.'

You know, I walked out the door, slammed it open,

I started punching the wall.

It's just annoying.

Because every other time they think it's me

and they always blame it on me.

I kick off and they end up giving me a C4.

It's like they always pick on me

because they know I'm going to lose my temper.

I think I might talk to Clive

about how to stop, like, losing my temper so quick

and how to stop...

getting so angry, like, really easy.

Right, everybody can go.

'Jacub often refuses to listen to his teachers.

'But can Clive help?'

'Getting into big trouble at school is something Clive knows all about.'

I was a bit like Jacub. Erm...

I did have a short temper.

Being mixed race, kids always called you names or said silly things,

like "blacky" and "get back to the jungle" and that sort of thing.

And that... You know, that really got me then.

But I always stood up for myself and get into fights.

And I had the cane a couple of times.

He said, "Jacub, get outside now." Like, shouting at me.

So then I threw my chair onto the floor,

I went to the door and punched the door open

-and then went outside and started punching the wall and that.

-Hm...

-It's a matter of control, then, isn't it?

-Yeah.

You know, because it only makes you feel worse.

Did you have to apologise or...?

Yeah, I had to go and apologise to the teacher.

Then I walked off and got a book.

-So you sort of learned your lesson a little bit?

-Yeah.

DAVE: 'Seeing Jacub getting into trouble

'brings back unhappy memories for Clive. '

My son, he got in with a crowd.

It was drugs and...

Then one thing led to another.

The soft drugs turned to heroin.

And, you know, it killed him, anyway.

Jacub's 13 years old.

And he's reaching that point where he can go either way.

If he takes the left fork, you know, it could be disastrous.

If he takes the right fork, then that's the right way to go.

And, you know, perhaps I can help him, give him some advice,

some experience that, you know, "Jacub, take the right fork."

-SI:

-'Our first month is up.

'Most partnerships have just about made it through.

'You can see trust developing

'and signs that they're going to be good for each other.'

DAVE: 'Oh, boy, hasn't it been emotional?

'And we've only just started.'

-Whoa!

-He-he-heee!

I tell you what, man, this has got to be the scariest,

most bonkers, up and down, emotionally draining journey

-we've ever been on.

-Oh, I feel as though I've been through a mincer.

-I mean, there's been laughter, tears, all of that.

-Yeah.

You know, sometimes, you see these little nuggets of love

that makes you, makes you well up.

-Other times, it's blooming heartbreaking.

-It is.

But never let anybody tell me

that older people and youngsters can't get on.

There are bridges to be built but, once they're there,

I think we're on to something really big, really valuable.

Oh, definitely.

'Next time...'

Maybe some of us oldies don't actually listen.

'..as we try to unite everyone...'

She interrupts me, doesn't let me talk.

'..communication breaks down.'

I'm just a bit concerned that this is one opportunity you have

to get a qualification.

I hope it doesn't end in tears.

'What do you think of the older and younger generations of today?

'Well, to find out more and have your say, go to...

..and follow the link to the Open University.