Edinburgh pals create group to help women make new friendships in the city

A pair of Edinburgh friends have teamed up to bring a new way for women to 'create new friendships' within the city.

Edinburgh based Gael, 27, and Naomi, 26, have successfully launched their new club, 'Edinburgh Gals Social Club' which aims to make it easier to make new friends through a variety of weekly and consistent events.

The decision came after Gael felt like she was going "insane" trying to find a way to meet new people and extend her social circle. She then decided to create a new 'WhatsApp group called 'Edinburgh Gals Social Club'. It was at this point that Naomi and Gael connected and decided to bring the group chat to life.

She explained that the group is open to all ages, however the majority of people who have attended so far have been in their mid 20s since the group is very new.

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Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Gael said: "I have only lived in the city for the last five months or so. It was hitting the point where I was hoping to meet new friends in Edinburgh and I was going crazy trying to hunt down weekly consistent activities that I could go to.

"I was really open to anything, but all of the social groups were like one off events and it wasn’t ideal because I wanted something consistent that I could trust to always be on.

"I then decided to create the group chat and I was only expecting five to 10 people at a push but after 20 minutes of the group being made, we had hit 60 members and after an hour we were over 100, so the response was really overwhelming.

"As it stands we have an event on Tuesdays which is the walking and running group which is open to all levels and abilities. Wednesdays we have 'gals who play in the park' which will include the likes of baseball and rounders etc and on Thursdays we have 'gals who pub' which will be for some cocktails and a blether.

"We just wanted to have something to do on the weekdays and we have been able to build a community of like minded people and it’s comforting to know that we weren’t the only people who felt the same as us".

Gael added that she feels like there is a lot of pressure to make new friends when you get older and she hopes that this group will make it a bit easier.

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She said: "When you reach your mid 20s, everyone is at different stages of life and there is a lot of pressure when you are a woman to maintain a social circle. It's a great people to meet new people in a safe environment".

You can learn more about the club here.