A lunch club for the elderly is helping people rebuild friendships and combat loneliness after the isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The group in Swanscombe is organised and run by Karen Milton who, alongside others, saw a gap in the community after the closure of a similar centre eight years ago.

Volunteers and members talk about the importance of the club

The 64-year-old said: "A lot of people come because they are lonely. As the years go on, their friends start passing away so it is just a nice place for them to come and have a chat and do things they enjoy doing.

"It gets them out from being isolated indoors. It is hopefully somewhere nice for them to come.

"Even though the world for people is getting a lot larger, people do not know their neighbours any more.

"You can be sat in your own house and just be so lonely. It is nice that people can come together and communicate and hopefully have a good laugh, which we tend to do."

Swanscombe Senior Lunch Club is a bi-weekly meet-up at the St Peter and St Paul Church Centre in Swanscombe Street.

It was founded by residents and their families in response to the closure of the Oast House Day Centre, which was run by charity Age UK North West Kent, in 2014.

Determined to keep community spirit alive, people came together and organised the new club as a way to carry on and it has now become a lifeline for many older people.

Jeannette Woolton, 68, has been attending the club since it opened and is glad to see it has survived the pandemic.

She said: "It was a bit hard during Covid but like today it is nice to celebrate how long the club has been going.

"For some people, people who lost their husbands or they lived alone, they were stuck indoors without anywhere to go. The club gives them a chance to meet people.

"Now more people are allowed out and are not isolating, although Covid is still around, it is nice to come and meet people rather than avoiding people in case they catch something."

Another member Ivy Mitchell, who was celebrating her 90th birthday, said it is a "good way to get out of the house".

The resident, of Gasson Road, added: "It was horrible really (during lockdown). It is good to be back."

The lunch club is completely volunteer-led and non-profit so any money made is put straight back into the club as they offer members food, drinks and activities such as bingo, raffles and entertainment.

Karen is hoping the club may eventually have enough funds to hire a mini-bus to bring in people who live further away.