A pub is trying to tackle loneliness this Christmas.

The Chandos Arms in Colindale Avenue, Colindale, joined forces with Age UK Barnet to treat elderly people across the borough to a Christmas lunch this week.

The area is identified as having a high risk of loneliness amongst older people and the event was part of Heineken’s Brewing Good Cheer Campaign, which encourages pubs around the UK to bring those in socially isolated situations together by hosting free lunches.

A total of sixteen over 65s who use Age UK Barnet’s services joined licensees Emily and Are Koltveit for a Christmas extravaganza including a traditional three-course dinner with all the trimmings.

A former church administrator, Emily took over the Chandos Arms with Are in 2014, turning it from a trouble spot into a community hub and the winner of Community Pub of the Year 2017.

Emily is also training to become a priest as well as publican, she said: “We believe a community is like a church in many ways; it plays a pastoral role as a place where people of all ages and backgrounds feel comfortable coming on their own, knowing they’ll get a warm welcome and good chat in a safe environment.

“It’s what we set out to achieve at the Chandos and we have plenty of older customers, whose children have often been forced out of the area by high property prices, who really value the pub as a friendly meeting place and a home from home.

“Christmas is a time for coming together and it was privilege to host a festive lunch with Age UK Barnet, who do such fantastic and vital work in our borough.”