Birmingham families recreate adorable childhood memories - see before and after photos

Three families across Birmingham have recreated their favourite childhood photos right down to the facial expressions and clothing in the originals - dating right back to the 1960s - to bring iconic and cherished memories back to life.

The activity brought a smile to the faces of the family members - who had a fun day bonding with each other while recreating old memories at a care home in Cofton Hackett, Birmingham.

In one photo, 90-year-old Grace and her two daughters Judith and Val recreated a treasured photo from a family day out in Rochdale.

The original photo was taken on a playing field in Rochdale and recently recreated in the landscaped gardens of Cofton Park Manor.

Val said: “Recreating our family photo was great fun for everyone and it made my mum smile - we all need to have a laugh in life. My favourite part was dressing up (although I wasn’t too sure about my knee-high white socks) and the expression on my sister’s face - it was very funny to see her re-enact this!”

Meanwhile, mother and daughter duo, Sybil and Michelle recreated a family photo from 1973 - when Michelle was just three years old.

Sybil, 82, a resident at Cofton Park Manor said, “I’ve loved the activity and I’ve loved my life with Michelle - we’re best friends. We had 25 photo albums full of memories to go through and it was lovely to see photos and silly memories of my late husband Des.”

Another mother and daughter duo, Jean, 87, and her daughter Julie recreated a photo where Jean’s mother is by her side.

Jean said: “Julie was a very lovely baby and the picture brought back memories of my mum and dad. Julie was the first granddaughter and my dad adored her - my parents would take her on holiday to the beach and we have some great pictures from these times too!”

Julie is excited to see the final image and shared that “recreating old family photos is a great idea, it’s nice to be silly sometimes and I’ve really enjoyed it.”

The event was organised by Cofton Park Manor Care Home (Hamberley Care Home), and they worked in partnership with Lottie - a digital elderly care platform that connects care seekers to the UK’s best care homes.

Gail Bessent, Lifestyle Lead at Cofton Park Manor, who worked closely with residents to help bring their favourite family photos back to life, said: “It’s been great to see the joy looking through old family photo albums with loved ones has brought to our residents. It’s been lots of fun organising the activity and working with each resident to gather replica props and outfits.”

Lottie was founded by brothers, Chris and Will Donnelly, in July 21 after they were disgruntled by their own experience of finding a care home for their grandmother.

Chris Donnelly, a Forbes Europe 30 under 30 alumni and co-Founder at Lottie, said: “There’s something so special about hearing the unique and fond memories searching through and recreating family photos has brought to the residents at Cofton Park Manor.

“Family bonds play an important part in wellbeing and quality of life as we age. Engaging in activities that encourage reminiscing treasured memories can have a positive impact on the overall happiness of everyone involved.”

Here are the recreated photos by the three families: