Housebound, isolated Hackney residents met up with the volunteers who have “befriended” them at a social gathering, where circus performers put on a hoola hoop and hat juggling show.

Hackney Gazette: Attendees at the befriending eventAttendees at the befriending event (Image: Archant)

The Hackney Volunteer and Befriending Service got together 40 men and women to enjoy food and entertainment from circus artists Heidi Hickling Moore and Emily Fraser, singing from the Hackney Empire Community Choir, and tap dancing and poetry from 90-year old Steve Clark of the Clark Brothers and London Palladium fame.

The service supports over 400 socially-isolated residents in the borough through a regular home visit or telephone call from a volunteer “befriender”, and some clients met their telephone volunteer face-to-face for the first time at the event in the Trinity Centre in Beechwood Road, Dalston.

To get involved as a volunteer email hackneyvolunteers@outward.org.uk or call 0207 275 9829.