Would you join the over 50's club?

[Patchworkted]

I'm 55, young (I think) fit and active. According to my Garmin I have the fitness age of a 20yo. I'm definitely fitter than I was at 20!

My local community centre hosts a council run over 50's club, where for a very small annual membership you can attend dozens of weekly activity sessions.

They do things like "exercise with arthritis" and chair yoga, which wouldn't interest me, but also various arts and craft sessions, and things like cribbage, bowls and croquet.

I've never been creative, but I'd like to have a go, and some of the games might be fun, but it's probably mostly attened by people older than me, despite the name.

I've retired early and have some time to spend on new projects and new skills, but will doing it this way make me old before my time?!

Well if they are the types of things you want to do then try it , personally playing cards and bowls with the over 50s isn’t for me , I’d rather do activities that are open to all adults .

OK, what are they, during the day in the week?

I do do lots of physical things with younger people. I'm specifically interested in the creative things, and most art classes are in the evenings.

my local leisure centre has something similar with a separate over 50’s club, with a lot of classes on 2 days a week at the centre. Yes it includes chair yoga but also ‘normal’ yoga and Pilates. I started when I was 55 and generally do a couple of classes in the studio, one very circuit based. Yes Im one of the younger ones but there are quite a few of us in our 50’s. It got me into trying out classes I wouldn’t have tried as I didn’t think I was fit enough. And now I’m doing more of the non age restricted classes (which still have us older ones in during the day). It’s been very sociable - quite a few have coffee after etc. and I’ve now got good friends including the older participants.

I think you are correct and it will be full of people at a completely different life stage. If the annual fee is small and the activities appeal it’s worth a try I suppose. Is there a reason why you can’t attend weekend/evening classes which are open to all ages?

I'd give it a go. I'm not quite 50 yet, but for a variety of reasons am not in work and have to do any activities I want during the day. I've done flower arranging in the past, which was great fun and very interesting (something I'd always wanted to do) and now do Pilates. The latter is a mix of ages, but tends to the retiree age group - most of whom are far fitter than me. We all get on very well, and often go for coffee afterwards

@Patchworkted my favourites have been willow weaving , wreath making and stained glass workshops .

Absolutely! I prefer socialising with older folk than younger ones. Less drama

Im 63 and it wouldn't be for me, I like to mix with people of all ages. The clubs I belong to are mixed age groups and mostly to do with my occult interests.
I also find exercising with younger people makes me work much harder.
But if you fancy it do it no reason not to.

This post reminded me of my DM after she divorced and moved to a lovely village. She had the opportunity to join lots of really nice sounding activities, she declined them
as they were full of ‘old people’ as in people 10 or so years older than her. She ended up spending a lot of time on her own and then developed Alzheimer’s when she was in her mid 60’s. I wish so much she had joined in some of the clubs and activities.

I'd consider an arts or crafts class. Sometimes you meet very accomplished older people who are happy to share their skills. When I was a teenager I went to evening classes at the local college - not meant for 50+ people but largely populated by them - and had a whale of a time. Give it a go and see if they're your kind of people.

The clubs I belong to are mixed age groups and mostly to do with my occult interests

That's the most interesting sentence I've read on MN for ages.

Just Go, OP. Your gut is telling you that you might like it a lot.

I'm 60, retired, and looking for some new social activities but no, my local over 60s club is entirely populated by people I would consider the next generation to me. I like older people but I am primarily interested in meeting people my age. Bowls and cribbage would not be me. Whist, on the other hand...... The craft side of things would interest me more, but as a teacher rather than a learner.

My local WI is similarly populated by women who seem another (older) generation to me. And the local walking group talk about 5 mile walks as if they are adventurous treks. I regularly walk 5 miles in 2 hours or less.

I suppose if you are more open than me, there is no reason why you shouldn't join these groups but I can't bring myself to, yet anyway.

No, but my weekends and evenings are already full

I do exercise with younger people, mostly men because I compete at their standard and they push me. I'm interested in trying something different when I'm not training. It's not like the only thing I'll ever do outside the house is meet old people!

Could you just try one of the arty classes and look at it as learning a new skill rather than it being about the age of other participants?

Go, but with the expectation that you're likely to be at least 20 years younger than the other participants.

I'm 62 and live in the same area as my 88 year old mother. There's a very similar sounding club here which my mother goes to and enjoys, but I know from her that the youngest member is around 70. Likewise with the WI, she goes to that and recently told me they'd had some new younger members, turns out these women were all over 70.

I would if there was something I wanted to do from that list. Otherwise would you be up for organising something aimed at weekday things like this for under 60s?

The ageist bollocks on this thread is outstanding even by MN standards. I actually think they'd be better off without you taking your superior attitude to their groups.

I’m 55, feel 35 most days and I wouldn’t.

My experience of anything for ‘the over 50’s’, and I’ve tried a few local clubs and events including fitness sessions, dance classes, the WI and craft groups, is that they are actually for the over 70’s, with at least half of the members/attendees in their 80’s, and they have been mostly unwelcoming.

I'd join if there was one in my area, still working full-time so wouldn't be able to go in the week.

One thing I would NEVER do is describe myself as "young for my age". It sounds desperate. 🙄