A FUN and friendly bowling club for older residents is encouraging others to join their weekly group.

Valley Leisure’s Riverside Bowl team set up Bowling Goldies five years ago to provide a fun and informal group activity session for older adults in Andover.

Purposefully planned to take place on a Thursday morning, when Andover’s only ten-pin bowling facility is quiet, Bowling Goldies quickly gained popularity and the group now regularly take over all eight lanes.

Since reestablishing the weekly session after the restrictions imposed by Covid-19 were lifted, the Thursday group has grown to nearly 50 people, leading the charity to set up a second session on a Tuesday morning.

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One member, Ahmet, aged 83, who lives alone said: “I come to Bowling Goldies each week as it gets me out of the house, I get to socialise and meet friends who I’ve met through the group.”

Whilst not specifically established to combat loneliness and social isolation, the group leaders say it is having a positive impact on feelings of company, camaraderie and friendship for older adults in Andover.

The Campaign to End Loneliness estimate that half a million older people go at least five or six days a week without seeing or speaking to anyone at all and they further indicate that loneliness, living alone and poor social connections are as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day with loneliness causing a 26 per cent increase in risk of premature death.

In Hampshire, it is estimated that 27,000 older adults aged over 65 are lonely most of the time with those living in more urban areas such as Andover being more at risk of feeling lonely.

Even with the rising cost of living, members of Bowling Goldies recently said “the price here remains reasonable and stable.”

Bowling Goldies is an informal drop-in activity at Riverside Bowl taking place every Tuesday and Thursday from 11am to 1pm. Tuesdays have been set up to cater for demand as the Thursday session is at capacity.

For more information about Bowling Goldies contact the Riverside Bowl team on 01264 568192, info@riverside-bowl.co.uk or riverside-bowl.co.uk.

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