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- Friendship, not dating
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- Local guide
- October 21, 2026
Make Friends After 40 in Doncaster When Work Changes
Doncaster has close to 19,500 women in their 40s, and a new job, redundancy or retraining can suddenly leave you short of daily company.
19,400+
women living in the City of Doncaster are in their 40s (ONS figure for mid-2025)
12.3%
Doncaster’s residents in their 40s as a share of the population; Yorkshire and the Humber: 12.1% (ONS mid-2025)
7.9%
is Doncaster’s proportion of homes headed by one parent raising kids under 16 or in education; regionally 7.2% (Census 2021, ONS)
Doncaster friendships outside the workplace
A career change, a new qualification or a switch to home working in your 40s in Doncaster may leave a gap where colleagues used to be, so build a social routine that sits outside your job. Sandall Park parkrun is a Saturday-morning fixture, the Doncaster Slow Patrol walks on Thursday evenings, and DCLT leisure centres such as Rossington have pools and gyms. On Gofrendly, Doncaster women changing direction can find each other.
Doncaster, work and new friends
What helps a 40-something in Doncaster make friends after a job change?
Replace the routine work used to give you with fixed social plans: an evening walk, a weekend parkrun or a regular swim. In Doncaster these keep to a set weekday, so familiar faces come round often enough for friendships to form outside the office.
Is there an evening walking group in Doncaster?
Yes. Get Doncaster Moving lists the Doncaster Slow Patrol, which meets at Doncaster Tennis Club on Saxton Avenue on Thursdays at 6pm. Other community-led walks around Doncaster run on weekday mornings, such as the Sandall Beat Woods walk on Thursdays.
Where can home-working Doncaster women meet people?
Gofrendly is a women-only friendship app for finding women around Doncaster, among them others who work remotely or have just changed career. A weekday lunchtime walk or a coffee break together brings back some of the daily contact you lose when you leave an office.
Can adults in Doncaster study without paying?
City of Doncaster Council’s adult, family and community learning service offers courses in community learning, digital skills, maths, English and ESOL, and says they are free for eligible learners aged 19 or over who live in Doncaster or South Yorkshire. Classes take place in community venues around Doncaster.
Doncaster friendships when work changes shape
Work gives you more social contact than it seems: a morning catch-up, a lunchtime walk, someone to complain to on a Friday. When that changes in your 40s, through a new role, retraining or going freelance, the loss can be bigger than expected. You may not notice it until the first quiet week at home on your own.
Working alone can turn lonely quickly, so recreate the rhythm your workplace once provided. A Thursday evening walk, a Saturday 5k and a regular swim give you three fixed points in the week. Doncaster’s community-led walks include some after work, and the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve at Sprotbrough Flash costs nothing to visit and is open round the clock. The council’s adult and community learning service also runs courses for anyone keen to pick up a new skill alongside work. If you hope to make friends after 40 after a career change, put social plans in the diary as firmly as work ones. A few places to begin:
1
Sandall Park parkrun on Thorne Road, at 9am on Saturdays, with a café by the car park.
2
The Doncaster Slow Patrol, a community-led walk from Doncaster Tennis Club at 6pm on Thursdays.
3
Rossington Leisure Centre, run by Doncaster Culture and Leisure Trust, with a pool and a refurbished gym.
4
Sprotbrough Flash, a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve with hides beside the Trans Pennine Trail.
5
The Sandall Beat Woods walk, a community-led stroll on Thursday mornings.
LOCAL TIP
Put one social plan in your work calendar and keep it there.
How to
Four ways to make friends in Doncaster after leaving the office
1
Join the Thursday evening walk from Doncaster Tennis Club and make it the end of your working week.
2
Run Sandall Park parkrun, then grab a coffee at the café by the car park.
3
Find Doncaster women on Gofrendly who are retraining or self-employed and suggest a lunchtime walk.
4
Join the Sandall Beat Woods walk on a Thursday morning when you work from home.
Two reads for a change of direction
Doncaster career-change page and its authors
Our Doncaster page for career changers was written by Gofrendly founders Claudia Gård and Ulrika Lilja with the editors, for anyone who has retrained, switched jobs or started working for themselves.
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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