What social activities do you do?

[Elizo]

Am mid 40s, single parent, one DS mid teens. Have an ok social life, but know I really need to meet new people. Want to get on front foot with this before DS potentially flies the nest in a few years. Am considering running club (need to get a little fitter first) and table tennis. Feel a bit nervous but thinking if I commit to try something 3 times then even if it takes a few goes hopefully I will find a community I click with.

What have you done to widen your circle??

Book club, women's (feminist) group and trampolining for me.

It may also be worth considering volunteering opportunities - if you work alongside people in some way it is sometimes easier to get to know them well enough to start socialising.

Love trampolining idea but I don’t think my pelvic floor can hold out! Thanks for ideas

Book club- only women members.
Choir
I volunteer at our local theatre (behind the bar).

Have you tried the Ramblers Association? They have lots of walks/events and are country wide. Some very friendly people.

Worth checking if you have a local social club, ours is very active with 3-4 things going on each week.

Ha! My thoughts exactly

I love my running club. We do a pub run weekly in the summer (we run over the winter too, but from the local leisure centre) which is lovely and means not only do we chat whilst running, but then eat/drink together after. We also do lots of other social running and non-running things. I’m on the committee which means I’m obliged to get involved with things and be sociable (which is good for me as I find socialising quite scary but benefit from enormously from actually doing it).

As an offshoot of the running club, I meet some friends to do circuits training one evening per week in one of our back gardens or a local park.

Orchestra and orienteering club for me. Both are great fun. I also have horses so socialise with others at the yard and when out competing.

Play in a band
Yoga class
Coffee group at church
Church
Wild swimming group
Choir
Recorder group
Physio group for disabled people

(I don't work due to disabilitiy)

Running club is a great idea. Do you have a Parkrun nearby that you can go to? If so that's a great place to start running and to make friends, particularly if you do the volunteering too.

Volunteering (appreciate you may not have time with school age kids)
Gym classes
Walking with friends (by far the easiest as we can be flexible with times) Also my favourite as I'm getting fresh air/exercise and a good chat.

I've got friends who do park run, they seem to enjoy that.

When we moved from Essex to Scotland, I knew I needed to find new friends, so I joined an art class, and through that, I met people who were in a choir and a knitting group, so I joined those too.

I think the key is finding some hobby you enjoy, and finding a local group.

Local pub on a Friday after work, always someone I know there. Dancing/clubbing on a weekend with my posse of old ravers! Often a party or gathering in one of my social groups (I'm blessed to have a few communities I connect with). Volunteer at festivals in the summer. Kids are nearly grown/flown and I'm definitely having a mid life crisis 😂