Some stories just make you smile.

Every week in Upminster, 74-year-old Rita Sinclair hosts a tea dance that brings together around two dozen couples for an afternoon of music, dancing and good company.

And there’s certainly no upper age limit. Some of Rita’s regular dancers are as old as 96.

Rita has been dancing herself since she was five and still teaches today. But what began with a love of dancing has become something rather more important for the people who turn up each week.

The tea dances have created a little community.

Rita says that when one of the dancers loses a husband, wife or partner, they often continue coming along on their own. Friends are waiting for them when they arrive, helping them through a difficult time and making sure they still feel part of things.

It’s that contribution that has earned Rita a nomination for a BBC Local Radio Make a Difference Award.

We loved this story because it’s such a simple example of something that can make a huge difference as we get older: having somewhere to go, people to see and something you genuinely look forward to.

And if it happens to involve a cup of tea and a dance at 96, even better.