BE Social, a fun and welcoming club for people over 50 in Trafford to be active, make friends and enjoy life, has expanded into Stretford and Urmston.

Set up by Trafford Housing Trust’s independent living service, TrustCare, Be Social first launched in Sale and Timperley, with activities and events chosen with members, such as day trips, exercise and craft classes, lunches and afternoon teas and trips to the theatre or cinema, as well as exclusive discounts with local businesses for members to enjoy.

The club aims to reduce loneliness and isolation which evidence suggests can be as damaging for health as smoking, with benefits including increased wellbeing, more independence, improved memory and reduced anxiety.

To mark the expansion of Be Social, an event was held at the Trust’s newly re-furbished sheltered scheme Ormeston Lodge in Urmston this week to introduce residents and the community to the club, during an afternoon of entertainment.

Member, Puri Buron, aged 71, said: “Be Social makes me feel alive again, it’s lifted me up and made me want to do things.

"Since I joined I can tell such a difference, I didn’t know I was depressed but now I feel so much better and my attitude to life has changed. My confidence has been boosted and I feel psychically and psychologically better.”

Executive director for health and social care at Trafford Housing Trust, Hilary Barrett, said: “So far the response to Be Social has been fantastic and we encourage anyone who might be thinking about it to join in or to share details with friends or family.

"As well as Be Social, we offer a range of social opportunities to help people to feel healthier, happier and more independent such as support to get out and about with one of our carers, and activities in our sheltered and extra care schemes.”

Businesses already supporting Be Social with discounted services for members include VAO restaurant, The Block and Gasket and The Edge hairdressers in Sale and Natural Beauty in Ashton-on-Mersey.

To find out more about Be Social, or other TrustCare initiatives, visit www.trustcare.org.uk

Another way TrustCare is supporting its customers is by creating reminiscence rooms in each of its nineteen sheltered schemes, as a space for people living with dementia to relax and connect with the past, such as Fiona Gardens in Sale. Future plans also include introducing memory cafés across Trafford as a welcoming space for people with dementia and their family and carers.