A table on a Stoke Newington street has become an unlikely meeting point for neighbours looking to get to know each other.
Tom Stroud, 40, a former Love is Blind UK contestant, came up with the idea after his housemate, Dan Shrigley, 28, said he wanted to meet more people living nearby.
The pair first put the table outside their home in August and invited neighbours to stop for a cup of tea or coffee.
It proved so popular that they now host the event once a week.
Stroud said: “We weren’t really hoping for anything outside of just meeting a few nice people.”
But soon people they had never met began stopping by, bringing biscuits and sharing their stories.
Among them were residents from a local hostel supporting those who had experienced abusive relationships.
Stroud said their stories stayed with him and showed him the value of meeting people he might otherwise never have had the chance to meet.
“I always say you can learn more from someone that doesn’t have the same background to you as someone that does,” he said.
The pair were also introduced to WhatsApp groups, which helped them connect with more people living in the area.
“We got offers to do pilates in the park, to play football, even to foster cats,” Stroud said.
Those connections have continued, with Stroud now developing friendships with people he first met at the coffee table.
He said: “Just coming back from the gym today, I had conversations with five people who I’d met through the coffee table. Five separate people.
“It’s been amazing. I’m going to play paddle with a neighbour called Simon later on this afternoon.”
One of those new connections was James Gossard, who works for train operator LNER and is involved in male advocacy and wellbeing.
The pair discussed men’s mental health and are exploring whether the coffee-table idea could be used at railway stations for International Men’s Day.
Stroud previously worked in PR before leaving his job in January to focus on Shoulder to Shoulder, the men’s community he co-founded with Dan Shrigley around 18 months ago.
The pair first connected after Shrigley saw Stroud on Love is Blind UK in 2024, where he appeared as a contestant.
Stroud said meeting people in his neighbourhood had changed his relationship with London.
He said: “You feel this sort of connectedness to the people around you, which I think in the age of social media, AI, digital platforms, we’re all craving and we’re all missing.”
Stroud hopes the idea will encourage other people to create their own opportunities to meet their neighbours.
“It just takes someone to take the first step,” he said.
Stroud shares videos of his coffee-table encounters on Instagram.
Feature image credit: Tom Stroud
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