A project using table tennis to tackle isolation and improve health among black men aged over 50 is set to be extended to reach more people.

The sessions are organised by the Over-50s Black Men Forum (O50BM), which has a mission to fight health, economic and social inequalities among the demographic.

The Forum organises sessions in Luton, Grays, Chelmsford and Basingstoke and Table Tennis England Area Managers Chris Bryden and Alan Lane have given their support at recent sessions.

We talked to some of the people making friends and improving their health by playing table tennis in Luton – see what they said by watching the video below.

The Forum, which has more than 600 members, has recently been awarded additional funding from Sport England to expand their table tennis work into Southampton, Milton Keynes and Kent.

Partnership & Engagement Manager for O50BM, Chidi Umeano, said: “Table tennis is perfect for over 50s. It’s not like football that has a lot of strain on your legs or squash or lawn tennis – this is quite gentle on the body.

“Also, it’s very easy to set up, you just need a table and that’s it. Most people have found it very, very enjoyable.

“In terms of personally, I’ve seen my fitness level go up. When we played doubles, for example, last week, I did about 22,000 steps just playing doubles between 6:30 and 9:15. So I mean, that’s amazing.

“So physically I feel better and mentally much, much, much better.

“Other people when they come here, they say this is almost like a stress-buster for them. They just look forward to the Wednesdays and they’re asking us can we have another one over the weekend?”