Making new friends after 40

[WTF2025]

I’m often a bit lonely these days, especially in the evenings as my husband works nights. Now the children are much older and don’t need me here doing bedtime stories I’m feeling a bit lost! I have some friends but they/we are often busy or a bit far away, you know how it is, spend weeks trying to find a suitable date to never get round to it! I also live pretty rural.
I don’t really know how to make any new friends now! I’m 41. Does anyone have any ideas? Maybe I should try an evening class or something, I don’t know I’ve lost myself a bit I think with what I even like doing 😬 anyone else in the same situation?

Begin with a list of anything you're interested in or potentially interested in and then look to see if there's a group you could join locally? If it's not for you then you could try something else. Is there anywhere you could work part-time maybe in the evenings that might get you noticed and people strike up a conversation? Rural areas usually have a parish council, a WI, churches, something like that.