Elderly residents in west London were treated to an early Christmas dinner complete with all of the trimmings, courtesy of Hounslow and Richmond firefighters.

The Christmas party for residents of Richmond, Kingston and Hounslow was held at Heston Fire Station on Sunday (December 10) and included a Christmas sing song, a raffle provided by the local Tesco and a Christmas feast cooked and dished up by local firefighters.

The fire station teamed up with Contact the Elderly which is a national charity aiming to combat loneliness and social isolation experienced by thousands of people aged over 75 who live alone.

One of the ways the charity does this is by organising monthly Sunday afternoon tea parties for small groups.

During the fire station Christmas party local groups joined in for one big Christmas celebration, bringing almost 40 guests and volunteers together.

Elderly residents from Richmond, Hounslow and Kingston were invited along

"This event was the perfect end to a successful year for Contact the Elderly groups in the area," said Contact the Elderly’s development officer for the area, Jane Vasudevan.

She added: "The fact that Heston Fire Station opened up their doors for Christmas dinner was a true treat for the older people we support at Contact the Elderly, and allowed our dedicated volunteers to have a bit of fun too.

Firefighters were on hand to dish up the dinner

"The difference events like this can make to the lives of older people serve as a reminder of the importance of supporting older people who may suffer from loneliness in our communities, not only at Christmas, but all year round."

One of guests at the party, Kathy, said: "It’s the best Christmas I’ve had in years!"

She went home with a hamper full of goodies presented by Mayor of Hounslow, Councillor Sue Sampson.

Local resident Kathy with Mayor of Hounslow, Cllr Sue Sampson and members of London Fire Brigade

London Fire Brigade 's borough commander for Hounslow, Phil Morton, said: "This event really highlights the role of firefighters in the community and shows how we can support people by opening our doors to the public.

Almost 40 guests and volunteers attended the event

"It was great for the station to be filled with visitors on Sunday and we really enjoyed entertaining our group of guests.

"We would like to say thank you to all the volunteers from the charity for all the hard work they given to support older people throughout the year, all the firefighters who put on an amazing event and Tesco for donations of food and gifts."

Contact the Elderly is urging anyone who would like to volunteer with the charity in Hounslow, Richmond or Kingston, to contact them for free on 0800 716543, or head to their website .

Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the free getwestlondon app.

You can even set it to receive push notifications for all the breaking news in your area

Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android now.