- Women only
- Friendship, not dating
- Free to join
- Local guide
- October 21, 2026
Make Friends After 40 in Tyne and Wear Once the Dust Settles
Over 54,000 forty-something women call the four Tyne and Wear boroughs around the city home, which makes starting over a little less of a solo act.
856,000+
residents of Tyne and Wear outside Newcastle at mid-2025 (ONS)
6%
increase in 40 to 49 year olds across Sunderland, the two Tynesides and Gateshead from 2021 to 2025; North East 5% (ONS)
54,200+
Tyne and Wear women in their forties, the city excluded, at mid-2025 (ONS)
Starting again in Tyne and Wear
In Tyne and Wear, rebuilding after a break-up in your 40s is easier with somewhere fixed to be each week. Low Fell Running Club in Gateshead has a Monday ladies’ group, Run, Eat, Sleep South Shields offers beginners a taster session, and South Shields parkrun loops The Leas every Saturday morning. This page covers the boroughs around Newcastle, which has a hub of its own. Gofrendly lets you meet women close by who want new friends too.
Tyne and Wear questions after a separation
Where can a complete beginner start running with others in Tyne and Wear?
Run, Eat, Sleep South Shields organises runs almost every night of the week for a range of abilities and offers beginners a taster session before joining. Elsewhere in Tyne and Wear, Sunderland Strollers runs a learn-to-run programme for 2026, with sign-up through its beginners’ email address.
Do any Tyne and Wear running clubs have a ladies' group for women in their 40s?
Low Fell Running Club in Gateshead has a ladies’ group that starts on Monday evenings between 6.15pm and 6.30pm from Gateshead Fell Cricket Club. Non-members can simply come along, runners are paired by ability, and living in Low Fell is not required to join this Tyne and Wear club.
Which boroughs does this Tyne and Wear page cover?
Sunderland, Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside. Newcastle has a hub of its own, so the city stays out of both the ideas and the statistics here. Each of the four Tyne and Wear boroughs has its own running clubs and coastal or riverside paths, so routines can stay local.
After a divorce, how can a Tyne and Wear woman rebuild her circle of friends?
Gofrendly, the women-only friendship app, brings up Tyne and Wear women near your home and leaves the opening message to you. Pairing that with a weekly run or a club night means you meet some people through an activity and some one to one, which spreads the effort.
Rebuilding friendships in Tyne and Wear
A separation in your forties rarely ends just one relationship. Couple friends take sides or quietly fade, weekends with the children alternate, and the house goes quiet on the evenings they are away. The boroughs outside Newcastle each have their own clubs and shoreline or riverside paths, so a fresh routine can start a few streets from your door in Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside or Sunderland, without crossing the river every time.
Plenty of others are in the same boat: more than 54,000 local women have birthdays that put them in their forties, a group that has swelled by roughly 6% since 2021. Even so, the first child-free weekend can feel lonely. To make friends after 40 again, give the nights that are now yours to something with a regular slot, perhaps a running club, a beginners’ group or the Saturday 5k, and accept the invitation for a drink afterwards. Good places to begin:
1
Low Fell Running Club, whose ladies’ group sets off on Monday evenings from Gateshead Fell Cricket Club.
2
Run, Eat, Sleep South Shields, a running community with organised runs most nights and a taster session for beginners.
3
South Shields parkrun along The Leas, a 5k that costs nothing and starts each Saturday.
4
Rising Sun parkrun in North Tyneside, another free Saturday 5k.
5
Sunderland Strollers, a club with a learn-to-run programme for beginners in 2026.
LOCAL TIP
Put one of them in the calendar for a weekend the house is empty.
How to
Four ways back into a social life in Tyne and Wear
1
Join the Low Fell ladies’ group on a Monday; non-members can come along and runners are paired by ability.
2
Book the beginners’ taster with Run, Eat, Sleep South Shields.
3
Write to Tyne and Wear women through Gofrendly and arrange to walk The Leas together once parkrun is done.
4
Email Sunderland Strollers about its learn-to-run programme if you are starting from scratch.
When friendships change shape
Tyne and Wear, for women starting over
Our founders Claudia Gård and Ulrika Lilja wrote the Tyne and Wear page together with Gofrendly editors. It is meant for forty-something women rebuilding a social life after separation or divorce, through running groups, beginners’ sessions and parkrun outside the city.
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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