Hi branchini
Regarding the social isolation/loneliness factor, the age range of groups I’ve looked into joining hasn’t even crossed my mind as a reason to discount them. Several years ago I joined our local Womens Institute, partly to support the work they do in the local community and partly because the other option was to sit in house, on my own with too much thinking time. I’m one of the youngest in the group and, to quote our strapline, “it’s not all Jam and Jerusalem”! Yes, they have the “traditional sub-groups” of knitting, sewing and baking and such like, but there’s also a book club, a lunch club, an evening dining club, a walking group, a cycling group, a running group and, up until lockdown, there was a fledgling canoeing group getting set up. Not to mention the stuff the National Federation organise. Trips away, educational stuff ranging from crafts to languages to ironmongery (you just pay your money and they sort out the rest).
I think the point I’m trying to make is, don’t discount a “social group” just because of age. It might not be “just quite right for you” initially but you never know where it might take you. You’ll never know for sure until you give it a go. Finding reasons not to could just be the anxiety/depression talking..
Beyond the Ramblers, there seems to be very few “local” walking clubs that exist that do regular local walks and organise trips elsewhere. I can imagine this being down to the health and safety red tape and politics surrounding setting up an “official” club. All I know is there’s naff all in my local area that do weekend walks, so I have to make do with walking predominantly alone, interspersed with occasional local dog walks with my pal and a monthly local but longer walk with my group.
My new years resolution was to post regular forum meets on here so I could get my fix of hills and have some company (hopefully!), plus it would give me the incentive to maintain a semblance of hill-fitness. But Covid/lockdown put paid to that.
For walks in the National Parks, there used to be Ranger-led walks (I’ve been on a few and always enjoyed them). Not sure if they’re on hold at the moment though. Similarly, your local council might have a list of walking clubs.
For anxiety/depression, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is very effective.