The Barnsley cinema screenings aiming to get people talking

There were queues around the block at Barnsley's Parkway Cinema

More than 1,500 older people have been given free cinema tickets to help them make new friends.

Barnsley Council has been running the eight-month scheme to try and combat social isolation across the borough.

Project manager Jennifer Robertson said the project, funded by central government and Historic England, had been "fantastic".

One cinemagoer, 68-year-old Janice Parkin, said: "I'm feeling like I'm on holiday."

The £40,000 Know Your Neighbourhood project paid for a natter café, art workshops and tours of the town's historic Eldon Street.

Many of the free shows have been sell-outs

All events were aimed at those who may otherwise struggle to get out and meet new people, the council said.

While many people would not consider themselves lonely, the screenings gave people the opportunity to make new friends.

Hazel Snow, 64, went to the Barnsley Parkway Cinema while her husband was in hospital, and said it was about "connecting with other people that I don't know, and it's a community".

Hazel said she enjoyed the shows because it took her mind off, for a couple of hours, her husband being in the hospital

"You see lots of people you know, so you have a chat, and you can come on your own like I have. There's no problem with that," Ms Parkin, who normally goes to the cinema with her twin sister, said.

One couple who recently moved to Barnsley from Flamborough said they were taking time out of renovating their new bungalow to make new friends.

Husband and wife Richard and Sylgwyn recently moved to Barnsley and were hoping to make new friends

Richard Hudson, 82, said he usually went dancing three or four times a week or played bowls, but it was "a nice afternoon out, it's actually brilliant".

Wife Sylgwyn, 81, said she thought it was a good opportunity to get out and meet people.

"People will get out if they are in their own homes and they don't know anybody.

"They'll come to a place like this and talk to people and get to know people," she added.

Some people who went to the screenings hadn't been out of the house in weeks, Jennifer Robertson said

"It's just been fantastic seeing people, sometimes coming along that maybe haven't seen anybody for months," Ms Robertson, from Barnsley Museums and Heritage Trust, said.

"They sit on their own in a cinema, then somebody next to them will sit down and they'll chat to them, and it's just been fantastic and we can see that friendships are being made."