Plan
Reconnect: six weeks to a fuller social life
A gentle six-week plan for rebuilding friendships and finding your people — one small, doable step each week.
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Connect
Friends, clubs, volunteering, grandchildren and the people who keep us going.
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Friendship, family and community: the complete guide
A plain guide to friendship, family and community: why circles shrink, what loneliness does to health according to the WHO, Campaign to End Loneliness and AARP, why acquaintances matter as much as close friends, and where to meet people in the UK and US. Start here for the Connect section.
Read the guidePlans and workbooks for connect
Whole shop →Guides
Grandparenting from a distance: staying close when the family is far away
Practical routines for grandparents living far from their grandchildren: the fixed weekly call, reading together over video, shared projects, keeping the technology simple, planning visits, and respecting the parents' rules. Also covers support for grandparents who are raising grandchildren, in the UK (Kinship) and US (Generations United).
How to make new friends as an adult (without it feeling awkward)
A practical guide to making friends as an adult: why repeated, low-stakes contact beats one-off events, the difference between joining and attending, what to expect from the first three visits, how to follow up, and what to do if you are shy. With clearly hypothetical scripts you can adapt.
Men's Sheds, walking groups and clubs: how to find your people
A guide to the groups that reliably turn strangers into friends — Men's Sheds, parkrun (running, walking or volunteering), Ramblers walks, u3a, libraries and Meetup — with what each is, how to find one, and a plain method for turning up the first time.
Volunteering: where to start and what it gives back
How to start volunteering: the UK and US directories worth using (NCVO, Do IT, Royal Voluntary Service, Age UK, AmeriCorps Seniors, VolunteerMatch), skills-based roles and trusteeships, what the evidence says about wellbeing, and a simple first-month plan.
Stories
Toasters, fans and a red vacuum: the Cincinnati volunteers who have mended nearly 1,400 cast-offs
Cincinnati's Tinker Team has restored nearly 1,400 household electronics in a year and a half, with no budget for parts and no experience needed to join. What they fix, why repair is worth learning, and how to find a repair event near you.
Pub to pub from John o'Groats to Land's End: Gary McKee's 900-mile run for hospitality workers
Gary McKee of Cleator Moor ran about 900 miles from John o'Groats to Land's End in 30 days for the Licensed Trade Charity, with more than 83,000 people taking part online. What a national survey says volunteers get back, and how to turn your own miles into a team fundraiser.
In Northampton, Sandra Riley waited 45 years for a football team, then helped build one
Sandra Riley of Hardingstone, Northampton, took up walking football after seeing it on television in 2018 and helped grow Northampton Town Ladies Walking Football Team to 30 members. What the game is, what the evidence says, and how to find a first session in the UK or the US.
Maurice Newman has skated the Berlin Marathon 16 times and two 24-hour races at Le Mans
Maurice Newman began inline skating on his 60th birthday. Two decades later he skates with the London Skaters group, has completed two 24-hour skates at Le Mans and the London-to-Brighton, and has skated the Berlin Marathon 16 times.
The Dallas tap dancer who found his reason to get up in the morning
Gene Edwards of Dallas started tap dancing lessons at around 81 and now takes weekly classes and competes. He told CBS Texas it gives him a reason to get up in the morning.
Things to do
More things to do →- Volunteer with the National Trust
- Volunteer in a US national park
- Become a charity trustee
- Join a choir with no audition
- Sing with a barbershop chorus
- Complete a first aid course
- Pass a British Sign Language Level 1 qualification
- Take a beginner course in American Sign Language
- Join a community orchestra or band
- Spend a morning at a Men's Shed
- Apply to become a magistrate
- Take something broken to a Repair Café, or go as a fixer