A community network that connects young people with their elderly neighbours is celebrating signing up 700 volunteers.
North London Cares was set up during the London riots in 2011, when its members contributed to the street clean-up. Since then, it has helped more than 900 people in Islington and Camden. Now the organisation has produced Hidden Heroes, a series of short films to celebrate the elderly people it helps.
Among those featured are Johnny Murphy, a cab driver who has worked in the capital for more than 40 years, Walter, a Sri Lankan national whose wife was left disabled after a stroke, and 70-year-old Dave Elvis, who has serenaded North Londoners for years with his impromptu performances.
Hundreds of people aged between 20 and 30 have signed up to spend time with older neighbours, either by visiting them at home or meeting up at one of the initiative’s events.
Last year it hosted the country’s first over-55s ping pong tournament, and this week members will enjoy a Mad Hatter’s tea party. A North London Cares spokesman said: “Camden and Islington contain some of the best-connected people in Britain living side by side to some of the most isolated, with particular challenges to do with anxiety, depression and deprivation amongst our older neighbours.
“We want to connect people who might not normally interact. So far we’ve had great success.”