The Friendship Friday group was initiated when Outside the Box were asked to organise a session with a local author reading from her autobiography. This led to a “What’s Next Session” where people asked for support to start up a group where they decided to meet fortnightly.  With a little help from Jo a programme of activities was developed from their ideas.

The group first met as Friendship Friday at the end of August 2018 and by December they decided they had enough participants, ideas and enthusiasm to continue in January under their “own steam”.

The programme was varied and feedback from every session was very positive. Activities included gentle yoga, a visit to a local artisan pie maker and locally produced food outlet, indoor kurling, watercolour card making, a bring and share lunch and more! The numbers of participants grew as the word got out and by December 19 people were registered.

One participant who struggles with her health told us

“It is often the only time I go out the house -it gives me the incentive to make the effort”

The range of participants is diverse including several carers, some people who live on their own and admit to feeling isolated and those with other challenges which sometimes makes it difficult to attend groups.

A more recent participant -mentioned how warm and welcoming the group were when she came along for the first time.

The group themselves identified that although the activities were very enjoyable and informative they really enjoyed connecting with each other. They decided that in the future they will organise some sessions with speakers but regular fortnightly meetings will take place in each other’s houses/ local coffee shops and several group members have offered to share their skills with others.

We are looking forward to following the progress of the Friendship Friday group as they begin this new adventure.

For more information about the Happiness Habits project visit our website

Happiness Habits is supported by the Aspiring Communities Fund with support from the European Social Fund.