A NEW group is launching in Weymouth to help older people facing loneliness.

The Palm House café next to the swannery in Weymouth will host a new group called Young at Heart.

The group aims to bring young and older people together to help combat loneliness.

Nigel Sims-Duff, owner of The Palm House, explained how the group was started.

He said: “My wife and I were watching a documentary about elderly people facing loneliness and isolation.

“We also watched a programme about young people who went into an old people’s home at Christmas to interact with the residents.

“We then thought – there are a lot of young people who come into the café, why don’t we put the two generations together in a relaxed environment and encourage them to interact.

“The children can play games and do puzzles with the elderly residents.”

He added: “Everyone knows someone in the community that is a bit isolated and on their own.

“I am hoping people will knock on their door and say there’s this great club which is starting, it’s free if you want to come along.

“Hopefully it gets people out and back into the community.”

Mr Sims-Duff said he posted about the group on The Palm House Facebook page and received an excellent response.

He explained: “The response has been amazing – we had more than 300 likes in 24 hours on Facebook.

“Everyone has said what a good idea it is, so hopefully people will make the effort to come down with their children and invite any elderly people they know.

“It’s not about entertaining children, it’s specifically to get lonely single people who don’t get out very much to come down and have a coffee and chat to some people to make some new friends.

“We all watch the programmes and think – children going into old people’s homes, that’s a good idea.

“But we don’t do anything about it. So I’ve decided to try and do something by putting myself out there to make things happen.

“There’s so much talk in this town, but not enough people take action. We need people to do something, not just talk about it.”

He added: “It’s no good us getting more than 300 likes on Facebook if only three people turn up.

“We need people to make the effort to come along and encourage others to come along so we can combat loneliness in the community.”

The first meeting of Young at Heart will be on Monday, February 3 from 10am-12pm.