Today is the day – our second birthday! We couldn’t be more excited to be celebrating two whole years of joy at The Joy Club. It’s been a fantastic year and we’ve loved getting to know so many of you through our events, your writing for the blog and the community forums.
To celebrate, we’re looking back on all of the incredible things we have accomplished over the course of this year and sharing some of the wonderful feedback you have shared with us.
Since our first birthday, The Joy Club Team has been working hard to bring even more joy to our community. In the past year alone we’ve introduced:
- Community forums – a space for our members to start conversations about the things that interest them or to share their thoughts, experiences and feedback following events.
- Recorded events – so you can catch up on all the events you missed, at your own leisure.
- Courses – an opportunity to develop your skills over a number of weeks to reach your creative, fitness and wellbeing goals.
Meanwhile our events calendar and blog have also come a long way. We tripled the number of events on offer, moving from 30 to 100 events per month in August. What’s more, over 70% of the content on our blog is now created by you, our members! We love having you involved in our community and can’t wait to see all of the incredible talks and classes you host and content you write as we enter our third year.
When it comes to experiences of The Joy Club, no one puts it better than our members. So, here are some of the wonderful things our members have said about us in this past year:
Lindsey
“The Joy Club can be a game changer for older people. I’ve been a member since Xmas 2021. I can’t recommend The Joy Club enough as a way for retired and semi-retired people to experience a very wide range of live events, including lots of different exercise, water-colour and creative writing classes, a film and a book club, various wellness classes including mindfulness and nutrition plus many expert speakers giving live virtual tours and presentations.
All the sessions have a very friendly atmosphere and new members are made very welcome. If you want to make new friends with people from all over the UK then the option is there but you don’t have to interact any more than you want to, for instance you can keep your camera off during zoom calls if you wish. All The Joy Club staff are delightful and it’s lovely to see how they interact with the members; they actively engage and listen to our ideas to find out what sort of new events we’d like and what changes we might like to see.”
Kathy
“Because The Joy Club is an idea that evolved from the love of a dynamic person it has a quality that is alive and thriving. It is so important that as people age they stay engaged with their positivity and keep growing. The Joy Club offers a place where people and especially women can connect to pursue their interests and enrich their lives. That is an exciting dynamic to discover, especially post retirement!”
Elsa
“I find technology and its role in my life exciting and organisations like The Joy Club that bring it to my generation, with activities and events that are attractive to my peer group. […] I like that it feels non-political. When compared to other similar ventures, The Joy Club feels vibrant and not at all staid. It feels as if it is about more of the fun stuff.”
Theresa
“I was sort of lost before I found The Joy Club. I was working, looking after my mum and trying to have some sort of social life – so was super busy but a bit frantic also. Then I left work (retired) to look after mum. She passed away and we went into lockdown. I coped with it as well as everyone else but on my list of things to do in retirement had been; exercise classes, learn new stuff, meet new people and volunteering. As I was semi-shielding most of these things were unavailable and then I found The Joy Club. In one simple action I can access all of the above and don’t even need to leave the house. […] The Joy Club provides an answer – the solution to the hoards of retired people who don’t know where to start building a fulfilled, social and happy new life.”
Karen
“This year, with all its challenges at micro and macro level, would have been even harder without the pleasure, stimulation and social contact that The Joy Club has brought.”
And thank you to all those who wished us a happy birthday! We’ve shared a few of your well-wishes below:
Helen
“I love being a member of The Joy Club as I nearly always find something of interest when I find myself in a quiet period in my life. Even now when my feet aren’t working and I can’t do the dancing I find interesting talks and yes even seated dancing! The Joy Club community is always welcoming and friendly. Can’t believe it’s 2 years!”
Maureen
“I love being a member of The Joy Club. It has given me the confidence to write, something I have longed to do. I also exercise more regularly and especially enjoy Margarita’s yoga classes.”
Jane
“My joy of finding the club is real. I love my Tai Chi Classes as well as my own teaching classes. These are such a positive part of my week. Thank you so much. A Joy to be part of and so helpful when one lives alone. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
***
Thank you so much to all of our members for bringing so much warmth, enthusiasm and JOY to our community over the past two years. We will leave you with this video, containing some highlights from this past year. Enjoy!
Celebrate our birthday with us at this afternoon’s Second birthday party coffee break – we’ll see you there at 12.30 with cake, party hats and generous helpings of joy!