To ask if you're 50 or over, what clubs/groups you go to?

[Zippyzoppy]

Dear Mumsnet Hivemind
I am staring down the barrel of empty nest syndrome, with 2 lovely well balanced teenagers, who just don't need my input as much as they used to. I imagine that in a couple of years they will both be at uni, and I will be well and truly bored!!

Myself and DP do spend time together, but he has a hobby which isn't my cup of tea and I am looking to find an interest to entertain myself. The problem is my 2 current interests (cryptic crosswords and gardening) don't really lend themselves to social based groups, so I am looking for something new to try.

So, please would you let me know what you do of your evenings/weekends that involve meeting other people but that are not sports based!

TIA

Zippy

Rockchoir and Church.

I do a lot of volunteering for different charities. It means I'm still using my brain, am useful and meeting people.

Gardening can be very social.

On Wednesday I was pottering around the botanical gardens of an old house with my 3 year old, when we were overtaken by a posse of 50+ lady gardeners who had obviously shared a convivial lunch before hitting the rosarium. They made botany look fun, I can tell you!

Book club, gym, exhibitions, theatre. I have an artist friend who runs a salon every couple of months where women bring whatever creative project they are working on and get feedback - brilliant fun.

Dh belonged to rotary. I was hugely suspicious of it but actually it was good. The socialising with other Rotary clubs with the Inner Wheel 'ladies' nonsense made me want to die though. I would start with the WI.

Running club.

Pilates.

Book club.

Also work full time (own business)

I'm in a choir (non-auditioning!) and I also do Scottish Dancing. Both are lots of fun and very sociable. The choir has off-shoots that are on a drop-in basis - it has a book group which is fine to go to occasionally if you like the sound of the book they're reading, and a walking group which again you can just go to when you want. I find this gives me a nice balance of two regular commitments plus lots of other as-and-when possibilities.

Book group
Yoga - not very sociable but is a bit
Sports in that I follow a football team and go to all home and most away matches

Oh, and I have a membership card for my local indie cinema which I make lots of use of, but it's not very sociable because I love going to films on my own. So not really a club

am dram, or doing backstage/makeup/chaperoning/front of house - v sociable, meet all kinds n ages of people, from youngsters to elderly

Volunteering is good especially if you join the committee - that gives a lot of involvement with other people, some of whom you will get on with. Local authorities are looking for "Friends" groups to look after their parks - this may be mainly fund raising but you may find a more practically minded group. Plant-centred volunteering can include things like learning to do plant surveys. Our local U3A has a Tudor Group, who as well as studying the Tudor age take part in events at a local LA-run "stately home"where they dress up in costume and talk to the visitors. What do you define as "sport" - there are lots of non-competitive physical activities that you can take up at your age, like caving, climbing, canoeing, even karate.

If you're looking for the social side, I'd say volunteer for almost anything that's locally run and offer to help with the organisation - that's a really good way of spending time with people and working with them, which leads to friendships. All voluntary groups are crying out for people to take on the officer roles. If your main aim is a new hobby, go and try absolutely anything, and keep your ears open for opportunities - you can back out if you don't enjoy it, but people do find themselves with an unexpected passion for something they never imagined they were interested in. Local libraries are now run by volunteers, and some of them are holding all sorts of activities - another way to try things out.

I’m a member of a local photography club. You don’t need a fancy camera, just an interest in pictures/visual arts. Nice people, regular meetings and a great hobby. I joined because DH isn’t the most sociable soul and it’s somewhere I can go to socialise on my own without feeling like a spare part.

Book club and netball club twice a week - one night training, one night league games (I’m 52).

Volunteer for local cat rescue
Book club
Adult education courses at local college
Exercise classes: Pilates, body conditioning, yoga, Zumba
Allotment
Sewing circle
Residents association

Work FT.
Some limited volunteering.
Language evening class.
(And fantasising about retirement).

Volunteer. Your local parkrun will be on the lookout for volunteers - you don't have to take part in the event. Very sociable. My local cinema and theatre have volunteer ushers - added bonus you get to see films/plays you might not otherwise have gone to.

I've also done a language class and currently am learning to tapdance.

Gym (small one that offers social gatherings too)
Art group
Zumba
Swimming
Friend and I tried local Rock Choir but found it very unfriendly.

Park run
Clay pigeon shooting
Cycling
Karate

Leeds2 How have people got on with U3A if they have done any courses? What was it like? What courses did you do?

U3A isn't an actual university. It's a chance to get together with people who have the same interests as you and meet up regularly to enjoy whatever it is you're interested in.

At the group I attend, the group meets once a month. The afternoon starts with a speaker who talks for about 45 mins on anything ranging from apple orchards to Roy Orbison's life story. After the talk, if you want to join a group relating to your particular interest then you put your name on the list i.e you might want to join a wine tasting group, or a language group, or a book club etc. You will then be contacted by the group leader and invited to join the group. These groups meet independently from the main group, and you can join as many as you want to.

Gym 3 - 4 times a week. I also go to Aquafit once a week at the local swimming pool. I volunteer one afternoon a week at the local primary school and go on school trips as and when required. DH also runs a walking group so I go walking with them once a month.

Not quite 50 but things I've taken up recently as my DD didn't need so much attention and I found I had time outside of work for my own interests are: a choir, pilates, yoga and I have joined a samba reggae drumming band, which I absolutely love! It's extremely sociable and as well as weekly practice involves gigging a couple of times a month.

I go to a couple of craft groups, they are fun and a good way to meet people.

well I'm not into cryptic crosswords or gardening and am not 50 yet, so I suspect we are very different.

I've recently re-taken up yoga, and I love it. Really love it. I've only been doing it a little while and have already started making friends. It's great. Other than that, I've met some lovely people doing a sailing course too. My friends are in a choir and I think that is really social.

I'd like to find a running club too, (not too male/race orientated) but you've said not sport. But lots of nice people there. Otherwise what about a political party? I know people who have joined the labour party and have met nice people?!

I work, belong to a Book Group, a cycling club and generally meet friends down the pub