How would I make friends as an adult?

[Yellowcrush]

I never belonged to a large group of friends when I was in school. I had a small group of friends. We drifted apart and I only ever had acquaintances and colleagues since my 20s. Often I enjoy my own company to be honest.

However yesterday was a glorious day and I would love a friend to even accompany me to a pub.

I have the confidence to go into places and hotels and eat on my own but to sit in a pub to have a cold drink or two. I don't have that confidence.

I have a partner but things are not going well between us any more.

Getting a hobby/hobbies or volunteering is an excellent place to start.

I made loads of new friends through dog walking groups.

My adult daughter met new people through the FB group Gal Pals

I know others who have used the website called Meet Up

Sorry to hear things aren’t going well with your partner. Do you generally find it easy to get on with new people or are you more of a slow starter?

have you tried using meet-ups or a similar app?

Can you start a social "group" on Meetup or similar? I have never found long term friends from hobbies, volunteering etc, but do find that in order to find new people you have to be the one to be the organiser and it can involve a lot of legwork.

I find that even having a few good friends, it's hard to do anything spontaneous like just go to the pub if it's a nice day. We tend to plan those things in advance except with local friends and neighbours.

In terms of making new friends - work, clubs? What about online? Are there any forums or groups you could join. I have two groups of friends I made online whom I see in real life. I have friends I didn't meet online too!