Girl power may have had its day. But now its older, wiser, altogether more formidable sister – middle-aged women power – is transforming lives across Perth and Kinross.
Two Perth businesswomen have joined forces to launch a new social enterprise, Good For You Club.
It’s open to local women aged 40-80. And it’s connecting members across the area for friendship, concert trips, park runs, country walks, long lunches, and everything in between.
The project grew out of a women’s walking football club in Perth.
Founders Joan Masterton and Anne Smith are both avid members of the Jeanfield Swifts group.
Anne said the pair were part of “the forgotten generation”. The ones who loved football when they were girls but were discouraged and even forbidden from playing.
They and their pals –Â who come in all ages, shapes and sizes and from all kinds of backgrounds – train every week, play in a league and go on overseas trips.
The physical benefits are obvious. But that’s not the half of it.
Friends in the team say the walking football sessions have helped them manage anxiety and loneliness and boosted their lives in all sorts of other ways.
And that got them thinking: why stop at football?
Good For You Club is where friendships flourish
At its simplest, Good For You Club is an online meeting place for women.
There are nearly 100 members already, who pay a joining fee of £19.99 a year for access to the mobile phone app and other benefits.
Any profits go back into the enterprise to support its objectives, including free memberships for women on low incomes.
However Good For You Club has partnered with organisations across Perthshire to offer discounts on meals and services, meaning members can soon recoup the costs.
Modern life can make it difficult to meet friends, says Anne.
That applies to women who have retired, or have spent a lot of their lives raising families, as well as those who have always been too busy working to focus on their personal lives.
The app has links to groups for people who like walking, books, knitting, theatre… the list is growing all the time.
A lot of women simply use the Good For You Club app to arrange meet-ups for coffee, or lunch, or shopping trips.
“It’s not a lonely hearts group,” says Joan.
“A lot of our members have really busy lives. But some of them have been desperate to try something that their pals aren’t into.”
Members spell out Good For You Club benefits
Liz Irvine, 60, from Blairgowrie, was at a bit of a loose end after she retired from teaching.
Since joining Good For You Club she’s been out for coffees and meals and a group of new friends are about to try pottery for the first time.
“Most of us make friendships at work, and it can be difficult when you retire,” she said.
Sarah Clayton, 57, lives with chronic pain and other conditions.
She’s started a Good For You book club, and says she’s made more new friends since joining the group than she had in the 18 preceding years in Perth.
“There are a lot of people stuck indoors, especially after lockdown,” she said.
“Good For You Club has been amazing for me. I’d love to try some things that are out of my comfort zone now, like wild swimming.”
Kitty Tomsett, 64, has only lived in Perth for a few months, since she and her husband retired here from Yorkshire.
She said Good For You Club and the friendships she’d made since joining had been her “lifeline”.
“I’d always been busy before and I didn’t realise what loneliness could feel like,” she said.
‘Nobody needs to be sitting at home’
Joan and Anne have done their research.
A Mental Health Foundation report in 2021 found one in five women will suffer from a common mental health problem such as depression, or anxiety.
Around two-thirds of women are classed as overweight.
And the average ‘healthy life expectancy’ – the number of years lived in a healthy and active state – is just 63, whereas the average life expectancy is 80.
However, research published in the British Medical Journal earlier this year concluded that the two behaviours most likely to lead to good health in later years are social relationships and exercise.
And that’s where Good For You Club comes in.
“Nobody needs to be sitting at home without an option to get out there and do something,” said Joan.
And the last word goes to Doreen Ross, 65, who has only recently returned to Perth after many years working in Australia.
She said the friendships she has made since joining the group have changed everything for her.
“Good For You Club has become a really important part of my life,” she said.
“When women get together, they can be so strong.”
For more information check Facebook, or the Good For You Club website, or email info@goodforyouclub.org.
Conversation