Fancy snuggling up to twenty strangers for FOUR hours? Join the 'cuddle club' where you'll pay £29 for 'therapeutic touching' sessions

• Anna Nathan Shekory, 37, and Tom Fortes Mayer, 40, run Cuddle Workshop
• Hampstead class offers 'safe space for non-sexual touching'
• Some are single and 'want physical contact in safe environment'
• Cuddling releases oxytocin - which Anna says boosts self-esteem
  
• Some have 'cuddle wishes' fulfilled - e.g. to be a cat being stroked
  

By Deni Kirkova

Published: 06:01 EST, 15 January 2014 | Updated: 10:37 EST, 15 January 2014

Everybody loves a hug - but would you want to snuggle up to twenty total strangers? The pair running London's 'cuddle club' certainly hope so.

Anna Nathan Shekory, 37, and Tom Fortes Mayer, 40, are the brains behind the Cuddle Workshops - and they're proving a hit with affection-starved Londoners.

The class, held in upmarket Hampstead, offers a 'safe space for people to indulge in therapeutic non-sexual touching'. There, you'll find men and women spooning, hugging, nuzzling, snuggling, holding hands - and piling in for group cuddles of twenty or more.

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Anna set up the class after experiencing an epiphany about the therapeutic power of cuddling

'I grew up in a Middle Eastern family. My family were very cuddly, we used to all pile on to the couch like little monkeys,' Anna said.

'As I grew up I got very confused about why people in our society weren't doing that. British culture in general was very closed-off physically.'

Anna experienced an epiphany about the therapeutic power of cuddling during a hug with a group of strangers at a festival in 2010.

After touring the site with her new-found friends offering hugs to festivalgoers, she set up the Cuddle Workshop.

People cuddle up to each other during the class in the Cuddle Workshop in West Hampstead

Anna got together with Tom, a Harley Street hypnotherapist, a year ago after meeting at a Language of Love workshop event.

'A very big part of our relationship is cuddling,' Anna said.

'Tom is super cuddly and that makes such a big difference for me. I couldn't date someone who wasn't a good cuddler.'

Tom is now an integral part of the Cuddle Workshop and leads some sections of the class.

Anna is keen to dispel the idea that the £29, four-hour class is only for the lonely and affection-starved.

Cuddle Workshop facilitators and real-life couple Anna and Tom interact with people in their class

Anna directs the class in a spot of 'freestyle cuddling' in which attendees engage in a mass cuddle

'I think people come to the workshop for many different reasons, there are some people who're single and they want to have physical contact with people in a safe environment where nothing's expected of them,' she said.

'Some people come because they're used to lots of cuddles from their family, and perhaps they're living in a new town or a new country.

'Then there are those who simply love cuddling and meeting new people.'

Cuddling releases oxytocin - the so-called love hormone - which Anna says boosts people's self-esteem and helps them feel more comfortable in their own bodies.

The class also includes a section in which attendees can have their 'cuddle wishes' fulfilled - for example by pretending to be a cat being stroked.

The workshop finishes with a spot of 'freestyle cuddling', in which attendees engage in a mass cuddle.

'Freestyle cuddlers', some of whom may be 'people who're single and they want to have physical contact'

Group hug: Some cuddlers snuggle up en masse, while others prefer to hug in pairs

'A lot of people just lie down in the middle, there's a lot of spooning, there's a chance for people just to be really loving with each other, to just be relaxed and connected and loving,' Tom said.
'It's just the most beautiful thing to facilitate, to see and participate in.'

Cuddle club attendees are encouraged to go at their own pace and are taught how to politely turn down a cuddle if they feel in any way uncomfortable.

Anna has plans to expand her cuddle empire by setting up Cuddle Workshop all over the country. 

'I really hope the workshop can make a difference and help Britain become more cuddly as a nation,' she added.

Anna got together with Tom, a Harley Street hypnotherapist, a year ago after meeting at a workshop event