The lunch club launched by a community group in West Belfast has been hailed as a "big help" in reducing isolation.
Ardmonagh Family and Community Group started their Winter Lunch Club earlier this month to help local older people make new friends, while bonding over a warm meal, cup of tea, and some activities.
Now into its third week, around 20 people have been attending the daily lunch club each day, with the group saying there is room for more who may fancy coming along.
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Margaret Spence, 67, told Belfast Live the winter lunch club has been a "big help" in getting her out of the house and helping her to make friends.
"I didn't know anybody when I first come up here, and I saw about it in one of the local papers and thought I'd take a wee jaunt up as I live on my own," she said.
"I didn't know I was not only going to have a cuppa and meet the staff, but also do a bit of arts and crafts and things like that. It's been very enjoyable. It's been a big help.
"There's a lot of people who would come up and you can tell by looking at them they're depressed, or they don't feel well, and they don't know anybody. If people are sitting on their own, you either go over and sit with them and have a wee chat or bring them over in your company.
"The meals they make us and sandwiches and tea are out of this world. The staff can't do enough for you.
"I live on my own so I'd just be staring at the four walls and getting into a bout of depression if I wasn't able to get out. I've got to know people here now and the staff, I'm glad to come up here because it gets me out of the house.
"To have a bit of a laugh and the craic up here, it's fantastic. We're all getting to know each other a lot better now."
Theresa Hyland has been going to the lunch club each day since it started three weeks ago.
She said: "When you get to our age, you get lonely. Some of the people here live on their own and it's a way for them to get out and see other people.
"The club's great, we have something to eat, maybe play a game of bingo. Coming here means people are getting their dinner and they're getting company.
"We're all making new friends. You don't know everyone, but you get to know them. Everyone is saying hello when you come in the door."
Richard May is the CEO of Ardmonagh Family and Community Group and said they have had a consistent number of around 15-20 service users attending the lunch club each day. But he said they always have room for more.
He said: "Like everyone, we faced covid, we remained open and provided the service throughout. Then we went straight into this cost of living crisis.
"We were learning from a very early stage our service users were already beginning to feel it, with the rising energy costs and paying for food, on top of the isolation they already felt.
"We began to get stories from people saying they would get up in the morning, get sorted, have something to eat, then go to bed in the afternoon because they were saying their TV was in there, they could lie in there and stay warm. That's no life.
"At the same time they were telling us they were scared and lonely, and didn't know how they were going to make ends meet. That's why we decided to try to intervene and support them in some way."
Richard said they're trying their best to make sure everyone who needs to attend the lunch club can, by organising transport to and from the community group.
"We have around 460 people registered with our morning line, where they receive a daily phone call from us," he added.
"A number of them would need transport to bring them to any venue. So we're trying our best to do that, even if it's one day a week for them, that's what we're trying to do."
He said it's important families don't hesitate to get in touch if any of their elderly relatives would benefit from attending the winter lunch club.
Richard continued: "We understand families may have elderly loved ones who they can't get to visit as often and they're concerned. They can get in touch with us on behalf of them."
The daily lunch club runs from 11am to 2pm every day, Monday to Friday. Ardmonagh Family and Community Group can be reached on 028 90245943 or info@ardmonagh.org.
Video by Belfast Live videographer Harry Bateman.
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