Make Friends After 40 in the North West

In the North West, your 40s often mean a new town, an old town or a whole new routine. Find out how women here build friendships that fit around all three.

Making friends after 40 in the North West: friends sharing small plates, a candle and wildflowers at a pavement table under string lights

484K+

North West women aged 40 to 49, mid-2025 (ONS)

12.3%

Share of the region’s residents in their 40s (ONS)

257K+

Women aged 40–44, the bigger half of that group (ONS)

Turning 40-Something in the North West

Of the North West’s women, almost 485,000 are in their 40s (ONS, mid-2025), and the slightly larger half of them are aged 40 to 44. That is the stage when plenty of us change jobs, move house, or head back towards family in places like Preston, Lancaster, Chester or Kendal. Coming home can be oddly lonely: the town is familiar, but the people you knew have built full lives without you. To make friends after 40 in the North West, treat it as a new start rather than a reunion. Sign up for something that meets weekly, from a choir to a netball league, and make the first move with the people you meet there. Familiar streets help, but it is regular faces that turn a place back into home.

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The Writers of This Guide

This North West page is by Gofrendly editors Claudia Gard and Ulrika Lilja. They looked at what changes in your 40s when you move, move back or simply outgrow your old routine.