- Women only
- Friendship, not dating
- Free to join
- Local guide
- October 21, 2026
Make Friends After 40 in Waltham Forest with no children in the picture
A full 16% of Waltham Forest is aged 40 to 49, well above the capital’s share, and its courses and parkrun suit women without children.
45,300+
Waltham Forest forty-somethings counted by ONS for mid-2025
16%
Waltham Forest’s forty-something share, against 14% across London (ONS, mid-2025)
13%
of Waltham Forest homes are cohabiting couples, above the London rate of 10% (Census 2021, ONS)
Waltham Forest has plenty beyond the school run
For childfree 40-something women in Waltham Forest, friendships can grow around interests you pick for yourself. The borough’s adult learning service runs horticulture and creative courses from Queens Road in Walthamstow, Wood Street Library holds a reading group each month for anyone wanting to meet new people, and Walthamstow parkrun meets every Saturday. Gofrendly connects Waltham Forest women without children who live nearby.
Waltham Forest after 40: questions and answers
Is there a reading group in Waltham Forest for meeting new people?
Wood Street Library on Troubridge Square in Walthamstow hosts a free reading group from 2pm to 3pm each third Monday. You just turn up, and the library describes it as a way to meet new people, which suits Waltham Forest residents with flexible days.
Which adult courses can you study in Waltham Forest?
Waltham Forest Adult Learning Service, based at Queens Road Learning Centre in Walthamstow, runs courses for adults including horticulture and gardening, health and wellbeing and creative subjects. A term-long class gives Waltham Forest residents without children a group that meets regularly.
Does Waltham Forest have women-only swimming for women in their 40s?
Leyton Leisure Centre on Leyton High Road offers women-only swimming sessions and classes every week, alongside a women-only gym, and its pool opens until 9pm on weekdays. Better runs it, so Waltham Forest swimmers can check times and book online.
Where do childfree women in Waltham Forest find friends?
Gofrendly, a women-only friendship app, helps women in Waltham Forest without children find others close by with similar free time. A walk after Walthamstow parkrun or a visit to the reading group at Wood Street Library is a relaxed first plan.
No children, plenty to do: Waltham Forest after 40
Waltham Forest runs from Leyton and Leytonstone in the south through Walthamstow to Highams Park and Chingford on the edge of Epping Forest. Forty-somethings make up a full 16% of Waltham Forest, comfortably above the London share. If your friends that age are busy with school runs and family weekends and you have no children, you may feel a step removed from those plans, and to make friends after 40 in Waltham Forest it helps to build a week around your own interests.
The gap can feel lonely now and then, though it also leaves your evenings free. A gardening course, a reading group, a women-only swim or a Saturday 5k brings together people who chose to be there. Waltham Forest has an adult learning service with horticulture and creative courses, active libraries and leisure centres with women-only sessions for swimming and exercise. A good list to start from this season:
1
Queens Road Learning Centre in Walthamstow, for horticulture and creative courses.
2
Wood Street Library, where a free reading group meets each month.
3
Leyton Leisure Centre on the High Road, with women-only swimming.
4
Walthamstow parkrun, starting from the sports ground on Wadham Road.
5
Waltham Forest Feel Good Centre on Chingford Road, with a pool and spa.
LOCAL TIP
Sign up for a gardening course and share cuttings with your classmates.
How to
Waltham Forest: ways to meet people that suit a childfree life
1
Take a horticulture course with the council’s adult learning service.
2
Drop in to the reading group at Wood Street Library; no booking needed.
3
Find other childfree Waltham Forest women on Gofrendly.
4
Book into the women-only swims at Leyton Leisure Centre each week.
Two reads on adult friendship
Waltham Forest page for childfree women
Our editors and Gofrendly founders Claudia Gård and Ulrika Lilja created this Waltham Forest page for forty-something women who have no children and want friendships rooted in hobbies and shared tastes.
Friendship looks different at every stage
More guides for women in this area – each with its own local advice.
Friendship looks different at every stage
More guides for women in this area – each with its own local advice.
Find women near you
See who’s nearby and say hi — it’s free to start.