- Women only
- Friendship, not dating
- Free to join
- Local guide
- October 21, 2026
Make Friends After 40 in Redbridge around the care of elderly parents
Married parents and their children live in almost 23% of Redbridge homes, and if you also support your own parents, daytime groups here fit around both.
47,300+
Redbridge population in the forties age band, mid-2025 ONS estimate
15%
Redbridge’s 40 to 49 year olds as a proportion of the borough, above London’s 14% (ONS)
23%
Redbridge households with married parents and children at school or college, compared with 16% in Greater London (Census 2021)
Redbridge has daytime company for carers
If you care for elderly parents in your 40s in Redbridge, your free hours may well fall in the daytime. Hainault Forest has a weekly Friday conservation workday, Seven Kings Library runs a knitting circle twice a month, and Fullwell Cross Library hosts Family History Redbridge twice a month, on Wednesday mornings. Gofrendly helps Redbridge women juggling care find others nearby in the same position.
Redbridge, caring and friendship: questions
Is there daytime volunteering for 40-something carers in Redbridge?
Hainault Forest holds a conservation workday every Friday from 10am to 2pm, meeting at the second car park off Romford Road and run through Vision RCL. Tasks are outdoors and practical, so Redbridge residents can join for a few hours while someone else covers at home.
Which Redbridge libraries have craft or history groups?
Seven Kings Library hosts a free knit and natter between 2pm and 3pm on the second and fourth Friday of each month, and Fullwell Cross Library in Barkingside is home to Family History Redbridge, which gathers every other Wednesday morning, in the first and third weeks. Both suit Redbridge residents with daytime gaps.
Which Redbridge pools are open while repairs go on?
The Fullwell Cross pool has been closed since June 2025 for roof repairs and is expected back in summer 2027, so swimming has moved to Mayfield in Goodmayes and Loxford in Ilford. Both offer women-only sessions in a private pool hall for Redbridge swimmers.
How can Redbridge carers find friends nearby?
Gofrendly, a women-only friendship app, lets Redbridge women see others living close by, many of them juggling jobs, teenagers and elderly relatives, and get in touch at short notice. A coffee near Valentines Park makes a calm first step for both of you.
Friendship for Redbridge carers
Redbridge runs from Wanstead and South Woodford through Ilford and Gants Hill to Barkingside, Hainault and Goodmayes. Some 47,300 Redbridge residents are forty-somethings, more than the capital’s share, and in nearly 23% of Redbridge households married parents are bringing up children, among the highest figures in London. If you are also driving a parent to appointments, the hours you have for yourself may fall in the middle of the day, and to make friends after 40 in Redbridge you can use them well.
Caring is often lonely work, however full the house. A conservation morning in the forest, a craft circle at the library or a family history group gives you company and a break that does not depend on evenings. Redbridge also has women-only swims at two leisure centres and a parkrun in Valentines Park, while the Fullwell Cross pool is closed for repairs until 2027. Places to start:
1
Hainault Forest conservation workday, on Fridays from 10am.
2
Seven Kings Library, with a knit and natter on alternate Fridays.
3
Family History Redbridge, meeting twice a month at Fullwell Cross Library.
4
Mayfield Leisure Centre in Goodmayes, with women-only swims.
5
Valentines parkrun in Ilford, a 5k on Saturday mornings.
LOCAL TIP
Spend one Friday morning in Hainault Forest and see who you meet.
How to
Making friends in Redbridge around a caring role
1
Volunteer at the Friday conservation workday in Hainault Forest.
2
Bring your knitting to Seven Kings Library on a Friday afternoon.
3
Contact Redbridge women who also look after parents on Gofrendly.
4
Research your own family tree with the group at Fullwell Cross Library.
On friendships that grow slowly
Redbridge page for the caring years
Women in their forties caring for elderly relatives, and hoping for friends who understand, are the readers Gofrendly founders Claudia Gård and Ulrika Lilja had in mind for the Redbridge page, written with our editors.
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.
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