Get in touch with your inner cuddle

Cuddlers who are not so 'hygienically savvy'.
Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty ImagesThe first ever UK cuddle party will be taking place this Sunday in London.

No, this isn't the latest ploy by David Cameron to bring peace and love back to Britain. The concept was invented by American relationship "coaches" Marcia and Reid in an attempt to revive the dying art of touching.

This strange social phenomenon began on February 29 2004, when a group of people gathered together in a room in therapy-obsessed Manhattan, to hug. The trend quickly spread around the States, then the world. To date, there have been 400 parties, with upwards of 5000 people cuddling. It even provided a plotline for an episode of CSI NY.

The rules of a cuddle party are simple: pyjamas must stay on at all times, there is no touching without permission, and participants should be "hygienically savvy".