- Women only
- Friendship, not dating
- Free to join
- Local guide
- October 20, 2026
Make Friends in Bankside, beside the river and the galleries
More than 20% of the people in and around Bankside are 18 to 24, and the river path stays busy from morning to night.
9,000+
residents in the Borough & Bankside ward, which also covers Borough (Census 2021, ONS)
23%
of people in the ward are 18 to 24, set against 9% for the capital (Census 2021)
43%
of Borough & Bankside households are a single person, compared with 29% in London (ONS 2021)
Bankside books a Tuesday
A reliable way to make friends in Bankside is the Borough book club at John Harvard Library on Borough High Street, which meets from 6pm every last Tuesday of the month. The same library runs a creative writing club and a crochet club. Tate Modern’s collection stays open until 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays, while Borough Market trades from Tuesday to Sunday. With Gofrendly you can find a Bankside woman to explore it all with.
Bankside, sorted
When is the big food market near Bankside open?
Borough Market on Southwark Street, a short walk east of Bankside, trades Tuesday to Friday 10am–5pm, Saturday 9am–5pm and Sunday 10am–4pm. It is closed on Mondays, there is no charge to wander in, and opening times change over Christmas and on bank holidays.
Is the big art gallery on Bankside free to visit?
Entry to the collection at Tate Modern on Bankside costs nothing, while the big exhibitions are ticketed. The gallery opens Sunday to Thursday from 10am to 6pm and stays open until 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays, which makes it handy for an after-work meet-up.
Which library groups meet near Bankside?
John Harvard Library at 211 Borough High Street, in the same ward as Bankside, hosts the Borough book club on the last Tuesday, a creative writing session on the final Friday and a crochet club on the first Monday of each month. It opens Monday to Saturday.
Is it hard to make friends in Bankside when you are new to London?
Gofrendly is a women-only friendship app where Bankside women can check who lives near them and say hello by message. Over 40% of local households are a single resident, so the monthly book club or a Friday late at the Tate makes an easy, low-pressure first meeting.
Making friends in Bankside when you live alone
Bankside and Borough skew young: more than 22% of people in the ward are aged 18 to 24, students among them, upwards of four in ten households are a single person, and above two in five homes are let privately. Children make up fewer than one in ten residents. With so many households of one, it pays to join something small and regular, with the same few faces each time, rather than hoping to meet people in the crowds along the river or at the market.
Living alone beside one of the busiest stretches of the river can feel oddly lonely. John Harvard Library hosts a creative writing club on the final Friday of the month and a crochet circle on the first Monday. Tate Modern’s collection costs nothing to see, and Shakespeare’s Globe stands a few minutes along the riverbank. Borough Market is shut only on Mondays. Some starting points:
1
The Borough book club at John Harvard Library.
2
Late openings at Tate Modern on Fridays and Saturdays.
3
A play at Shakespeare’s Globe on the riverbank.
4
Saturday morning food shopping at Borough Market.
5
Southwark parkrun, three laps of Southwark Park.
LOCAL TIP
Bring the same two-line poem to the writing club twice and you will be swapping notebooks by the third month.
How to
Bankside starters for meeting people
1
Try the creative writing club at John Harvard Library on the last Friday of the month, 5pm to 6pm.
2
Pick one room of the free Tate Modern collection and return to it with a friend each month.
3
Learn a stitch at the crochet club on the first Monday at 4:30pm.
4
See if a Bankside woman on Gofrendly fancies a late look round Tate Modern on a Friday.
Stories for the riverside path
Who wrote this guide to Bankside
Gofrendly founders Claudia Gård and Ulrika Lilja, together with our editors, made this Bankside page for riverside women between the bridges who would like friends nearby.
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.