Intergenerational Centre St. Ilgen, Leimen

'Small but special' is how you could describe the St. Ilgen Intergenerational Centre. Run by the Evangelische Heimstiftung religious organisation, it offers 45 care home places, all of which are currently full. The home's areas of expertise are not limited to specific ailments – because what they specialise in is simply caring for people. For the director of the St. Ilgen Intergenerational Centre, Miriam Schubring, this idea of putting people at the heart of what they do is not a marketing gimmick, but rather a central tenet of their work. Schubring sees the variety of diseases and ailments that people suffer from in old age as a reflection of the life we all live. That's why she believes in helping the care home residents to lead as normal a life as they possibly can. The key word here is integration. School pupils, volunteers and other interested parties visit the centre, and the residents go to the local town as often as they can, striving to lead 'ordinary' lives. They often meet up with their 'little neighbours' on the way – the children from the daycare centre in the same building offer a perfect opportunity to foster intergenerational contact.