With just two weeks to go, a 95-year-old volunteer is hoping to encourage others to do their bit on Mitzvah Day.

Louis Segal, from Hampstead Garden Suburb, hosts tea parties for the elderly – despite often being among the oldest in the room.

The widower has been volunteering for Contact the Elderly since 2007 and hosts two events a year for the charity, which aims to connect people aged over 75.

Louis said: “I’m lucky as I have my family around me. They moved in with me when my wife died.

“But there are so many people out there who live on their own and don’t see anyone for up to a week at a time.

“Contact the Elderly gives them a life and something to live for. I know if I didn’t have my family I wouldn’t want to be around anymore. I couldn’t imagine what life would be like not being able to see people.”

Louis says he enjoys chatting to the older guests and listening to their stories from the past, and he feels that it gives the guests great pleasure too to share their tales.

The former restaurant owner said: “It gives me great pleasure when the guests come round for tea and I look around and see all their smiling faces. It makes me wonder if they’ve smiled at any other times during the week."

Louis’ family have also got involved in his bi-annual Mitzvah, and his son and two daughters all now volunteer for Contact the Elderly too.

He said: “The table is always laid with wonderful trays of pastries and sandwiches. I feel the guests deserve for it to be done nicely.

“You can see on their faces that they’ve not been entertained like that for a while. It’s definitely worth doing it properly. I’m so proud of my children for doing all this.”

With just days to go until Mitzvah Day on November 17, please make sure you’ve signed up to do your Times Series Sunshine to Seniors Challenge.

Contact eve@mitzvahday.org.uk who will match you with a number of care home residences across the borough or put you in touch with the Mitzvah Day Contact the Elderly project in Barnet.