Meet the Hackney Dudes
Hackney Dudes is a social club for older men who want to make friends, explore London and share experiences together
Hackney Dude, Geoffrey, 89
“Hackney Dudes is for older men. I come here to meet friends and have a chat with them. It breaks the monotony of being at home,” says Geoffrey, 89.
He continues: “I always have Friday mornings booked in my calendar, which relieves the pressure of the other six days of the week.
“When I first joined there were 12 of us. Now there are more than 80! Without the hot meal today, some of these people wouldn’t eat all day.”
Hackney Dudes is a community for men over the age of 50, which meets every Friday, to help combat isolation.
In a light-filled room at the back of Dalston Curve Garden on a cold Friday in March, around 40 older men – and one 97-year-old woman – sit together, catching up on each other’s news and making plans for the week ahead.
The Dalston Curve Garden team provides a free, healthy vegetarian lunch for the group every week – and there’s even an informal food bank where they can grab fresh fruit or canned goods to take home.
John, who cares for his wife, has been a Dude for six years
John says: “I’m a carer for my wife, who I’ve been looking after for 14 years. I’ve been coming to Hackney Dudes since it first started.
“I didn’t use to go out anywhere before I came here. Hackney Dudes is brilliant – some of us now go out together. We go bowling, to football and there’s a band. If it wasn’t for this place I would be stuck inside all the time and be very lonely.”
Michael agrees. He says: “It’s nice chatting to people and it sparks other activities too. Women are all natter, natter, natter so I think it’s important to have a space just for men.
“I think, when you get to a certain age, men find it harder to talk. You go to a pub and you see men sitting by themselves.”
Set up by the social enterprise MRS Independent Living, the Dudes group has been running for more than six years. But the group has no funding secured beyond the end of this month.
Honorary Dude Irene, 97, has been valiantly fundraising for the group. So far, she has done two parachute jumps, a wing walk and a zip wire.
Chas, wearing his Hackney Dudes cap, and Stuart Russell catch up over a cup of tea
Vicky Harrison, project lead for Hackney Dudes, says keeping the project going is vital for the group. She explains: “Hackney Dudes came off the back of ‘Connect Hackney’ research that showed that men over the age of 50 don’t access services.
“The research suggested that men didn’t like the social spaces and activities available to them. The men here are focused on their shared interests.
“They go to appointments together and socialise outside of this space. Last year, three Dudes even went to India together.”
Although the weekly Friday meet-up is at the heart of Hackney Dudes, the programme doesn’t end there. On Monday, the Dudes meet up for art or bowling, on Tuesday there’s an online Zoom quiz, every other Wednesday is a trip out and on Thursday members of the band perform together.
Chas’ favourite outing so far has been go-karting. He says: “We’ve been go-karting twice. I’m a bit of a petrol head so I enjoyed that. We’ve been to museums and trips to Brighton and Whitstable.”
Band member Ernest says: “I come for companionship and the feeling of being wanted. There are lots of activities that we do outside of the Friday Dudes – like this band. I play the clarinet and we play popular music from the 1930s.”
Stephen Freedman, who’s also in the band, adds: “Last year we did 12 gigs. We play blues, jazz and show tunes – anything. There’s been a lot of changes in the lineup. People have passed away, Lester got ill. But everyone makes friends.”
For more information, visit: mrsindependentliving.org/hackney-dudes
To donate to Hackney Dudes, visit: bit.ly/dudes-fundraise