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Being a member of your local club is the key to living longer according to a recent study from the University of Queensland.
The research reveals that the more social groups an individual belongs to in the first few years of their retirement, such as those within their local club, the lower the risk of death.
Retirees who had more club memberships following their transition to retirement also had better quality of life and health.
There is a plethora of clubs to join in the Great Lakes region depending on your interests and if you can’t find one to suit your needs you might consider starting one.
Jim Peters started the Wallis Lakes Dinner Club in 2002 after he retired and moved to the area.
The monthly dinners gave Jim and others the opportunity to connect and 13 years on he still considers it a pleasant thing to do and a great way for people to chat and mix.
But if dressing up and going to a nice dinner is not your thing then shop around, Jim is a member of a number of different clubs and says each is slightly different and caters to a different audience.
The Wallis History Group holds monthly presentations on a wide range of historical topics and gives members the chance to learn new things and engage in intellectual conversations.
The Forster Progress Association by contrast is more physical. The association has 250 members who maintain 25 acres of parks and gardens in the area as well as patrolling the canals. All members are male and Jim likens it to a Men’s Shed.
Working under the banner of either the Dad’s Army and looking after the gardens or the Dad’s Navy and taking care of the canals, members enjoy the chance to talk to other men and to get out and about and be useful. The association also holds an annual Christmas on the Canal event which raises money for different charities. Phone Jim on 0418 201 167 for club enquiries.
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Garden Clubs of Australia president, and north coast resident, George Hoad is also a big advocate of being a member of a club for health and wellbeing. While gardening clubs have obvious health benefits due to the physical nature of the pursuit, George points out that a large majority of people he meets through gardening clubs are there more for the social aspect.
“It helps beat the boredom,” he said.
George often encourages people to join clubs for three main reasons:
- Companionship
- Meeting like minded people
- Building a whole new network of friends
In his experience George has noticed there are two types of people who tend to join clubs. Those who join one organisation and give it all their energy and then there are those who join a whole range of different clubs and organisations.
Apart from the social aspect of meeting new and like minded people joining a club can broaden your horizons and take you on adventures you might not otherwise get to experience.
Twelve members of the Killabakh Garden Club recently travelled to New Zealand to visit more than 25 gardens in a number of towns and cities. They hired a mini bus and planned activities around the abilities of all the members who ranged in age from mid 50s to mid 80s. The club trip gave them two weeks of fun that everyone could participate in and none of them would ever forget.