Actress and singer Claire Sweeney discussed career highlights from her starring role in the Brookside soap to playing Roxie Hart in Chicago to over 140 Jewish Care supporters at a lunch held by its Redbridge area committee, Local Angels.

There were also anecdotes about meeting and working with Hollywood A-listers such as Liza Minnelli and Patrick Swayze.

Ms Sweeney — who will be part of the BBC presenting team for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool — went on to reveal her affinity with the charity.

She explained that she had become aware of Jewish Care “when they offered help to a dear friend. Their care of another friend gave me further insight into their work. So when I was asked if I would speak today, I said yes in a heartbeat.”

The event raised £32,000 to support Jewish Care services for older people in Redbridge and Essex.

Lunch committee chair and Jewish Care vice-chair Gayle Klein stressed the financial pressures the charity was currently facing.

“Since the cost-of-living crisis, our electricity bill alone has increased by over £1 million a year,” she reported.

“This really does continue to be a difficult time for all sectors — but perhaps even more so for the care sector.”

She added that Jews in north-east London would benefit from the charity’s planned Redbridge campus, which would bring its community centre and care home services together in a state-of-the-art development.