Londoners get up close and personal at cuddle workshop

Everyone appreciates a good cuddle now and then.

For one group of Londoners, this affectionate activity is the focus of a new workshop, where participants sit around in a studio, listen to happy music and hug one another.

The aim of the group is to provide warmth and comfort in a society where social interaction largely takes place via mobile phones or on networking sites, ABS CBN News reports.

Guided by Anna Nathan and her co-host Neil Urquhart, the group briefly get to know the other attendees by lightly touching their fingers, shoulders, feet, ears and hips.

Afterwards, individuals are divided up into small groups, where they lie down together on the floor and hold each other respectfully.

Ms Nathan and Mr Urquhart even arrange for their visitors to have dinner together nearby following the sessions, to make it easier to return to the outside world.

One regular visitor said: "If I had to go straight to the street and public transport, I would feel kind of cold and alone. I want to hug everybody I see, if they are going my way or not."

Posted by Trevor Smith