Bored teenager in search of some new nice, kind friends

[Lightbluebook]

hello there, my 16 year old ds is going through a surprisingly lonely period at the moment and wants to make some new friends to preferably 'hang out' with/go places with - the usual nice, teenage activities/places/events . Ds doesn't have a vast amount of extra curricular activities however, really enjoys football, swimming, cinema, travel, the gym, x-box, and socialising when/if he can/could. Ds is kind, chatty, great sense of humour/fun, just a really sweet/good lad tbh. Does anyone have a kind/pleasant/considerate DS or DD in a similar situation? Our locality is Merton/SW London. Local youth clubs seem to cater for younger children and not teens unfortunately. I just don't want him to be lonely to be honest.

Police cadets? And I second what a PP said about climbing being a very friendly community if there is a climbing wall near you.

How about a martial arts group - karate, judo or tae kwondo? Great for self esteem generally, and there may be older teenagers like your ds there, although you might want to make sure he was going to be somewhere with other older beginners. Or, as he likes the gym, there might be kick boxing classes for teenagers?

Are there any local football teams/clubs he could join?

Good luck - the one thing I'd add is even if ds doesn't get immediate results on the friends front through activities, it is still well worth dong them - it's great to have additional interests and friendships build up slowly.
Actually there is a second thing I'd add - how are things school wise with friends? Is it worth ds looking into other school clubs/societies he could join to meet some new people there?

Meant to reply, sorry - for your child also. Very best of luck.