Empowering mature women to feel able to find and develop new friendships and interests
Making new friends when you are a kid is easy - kids don't worry about what they need to say and have ample opportunities to meet new people. I've often seen little ones go up to a new person and start a conversation with a simple question like "do you like my dress?" but as adults we don't embrace simple ice breakers in the same way. Kids' lives are also filled with activities: schools, clubs, playgrounds, etc. These give them lots of chances to make new friends as well as build existing friendships. As we age, other difficulties also creep in as social anxieties get worse with age and we develop greater perceptions of how things should work even if that's not how they play out. Making new friends and getting involved in new activities can, however, bring much happiness and satisfaction and support to our lives.
"Most people find it hard to create a deep and meaningful friendship in adulthood, but it’s not so hard if you know what to do." Robert Epstein, senior research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology
Websites Offering Support:
Together Friends
If you want to find some other female friends: Together Friends can help you to make new friends by putting you in touch with like-minded women who share the same aspirations or live in the same area.
It is a friendship/companion website, not a dating site, where women can connect on line and make friends, based on location, age or interests.
By linking you to other women, you can find a friend to go to the theatre with, go dog walking with, or have a coffee with. If you need a travel companion, they can help with this too.
Members can meet up as a group as well as one to one. Clubs, events and ‘eventfriend’ all allow members to meet others in their local area.
The Silver Line
is a confidential, free helpline for older people across the UK open every day and night of the year. Their specially-trained helpline team:
- Offer information, friendship and advice.
- Link callers to local groups and services.
- Offer regular friendship calls.
- Protect and support older people who are suffering abuse and neglect
The Girl Friend Circles
website has a number of good articles to help with finding friends and other friendship related topics.
SucceedSocially.com
has a free guide to getting past social awkwardness.
Sixty+Me
has a wealth of articles giving tips on how to find new friends and beat fears and loneliness. It also has a whole section on finding new hobbies.
Nextdoor
Nextdoor is the neighbourhood hub where neighbours work together to build stronger, safer, happier communities, all over the world.
NAVCA
is a membership body for local voluntary sector support and development organisations, supporting over 145,000 local charities and voluntary groups across England.
Meet Up Mondays
MeetUpMondays™ give hospitality businesses the opportunity to help change this, to show love for the community and to showcase their lovely, friendly pub, cafe, tea room or hotel lounge, as a place of warm welcome.
Here are some examples of the ways MeetUpMonday™ hosts have been active in supporting their communities during the pandemic who have been
- moving their MeetUps online
- hosting quizzes, raffles, bingo and disco nights over the internet
- providing meals to the more vulnerable and isolated members of their communities
- supporting key workers & NHS staff
- sharing their chefs’ recipes whilst their restaurants are closed to the public
- even creating an online ‘Social Distancing Shop’ to buy virtual beers which become actual beers for NHS workers!!
Hands On London
If you want to meet some new people whilst doing charity work, there are organisations such as Hands On London. It partners with local charities, community organisations, schools, parks and gardens. They provide high-quality projects and volunteer support, creating opportunities for people to give their time.
Get the Friends You Want
by Paul Sanders offers lots of advice on how to get friends and how to communicate.
Friends of the Elderly
believes that nobody who wants company should be without it. We want to make this happen by ensuring that:
1. People most at risk of loneliness are reached and supported
2. Services and activities are more effective at addressing loneliness
3. A wider range of loneliness services and activities are developed
Fast Company
has a quick 3 minute read on How To Make New Friends As An Adult.
Books on this subject:
Social Skills: A Comprehensive Tool For Meeting New People, Overcoming Fear, Dating & Effective Communication
Do you feel that you are the awkward type when it comes to the social events? Are you struggling to enter into a conversation in a room full of people you are meeting for the first time? Have you just seen a person at the other corner of the room you like but cannot gather the courage to say hi? You don’t have to struggle, just follow the simple steps and techniques as outlined in this E-book. It is all about practicing and learning to take risks, having self-confidence, and learning the universal social norms as described in the chapters that follow.
Not Fade Away: How to Thrive in Retirement
Retirement is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be yourself and do what you want to do. It offers new possibilities for personal growth through learning, retraining, travelling and friendship. But it is also one of the biggest transitions we face, and brings huge psychological and emotional challenges. It’s not surprising that many people struggle with the adjustment to a different pace of life.
Not Fade Away guides the reader through these challenges: dealing with the loss of status and routine, reinventing relationships, managing money, and above all, finding new meaning and purpose. It brings together expert advice and insights from people retiring now, who speak from the heart about the lessons they’ve learned and the new sources of fulfilment they’ve discovered. By cutting a clear path through the maze of choices on offer for people retiring today – which may or may not involve giving up work completely – Not Fade Away inspires you to make up your own mind and take control of your future. And that, experts agree, is the key to a good retirement.
Friendships Don’t Just Happen!: The Guide to Creating a Meaningful Circle of Girlfriends
Shasta Nelson, friendship expert and CEO of GirlFriendCircles.com, reveals the most important proven steps, processes, and secrets vital to establishing the five different levels of friendships, or Circles of Connectedness, that women—no matter their age or relationship status—are longing for in today’s stressful and mobile culture. This revolutionary, engaging guide will also benefit women who already feel rooted to fabulous friends, with insightful principles that will help them maintain and enhance their current friendships.
