Walking club paves way for women to make connections and overcome loneliness

On a crisp and sunny Saturday morning in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra, a small group of women are chatting away, waiting for their coffees outside a busy cafe.

The group grows slowly, until the entire footpath is taken up by dozens of women with coffees in their hands.

Some are speaking animatedly, others seem slightly guarded, their arms crossed.

It's such a big group that others walking by are beginning to ask what they're all here for.

These are the people Ash Ormond has brought together — and they're gathering ahead of their regular coffee and walk around the Tan running track that borders the Royal Botanic Gardens.

"When I first had the idea for a silly little walk, I didn't think anyone would show up," she said.

Now, she said, Hype Girl Social Club is a community thousands-strong, established as a way for women aged in their 20s and 30s in Melbourne to make new friends.

It's grown beyond regular strolls.

The women now meet for pottery or movie nights, and even group boxing activities.

"I realised after the pandemic a lot of people were really struggling to find friends and have a community, and it was around the time that lots of run clubs were popping up," she said.

So she started a walking club.

But while Ash seems completely in her element, surrounded by friends and acquaintances and making women feel comfortable as they arrive, it wasn't always like this.

She describes herself as someone who never really had a big group of girlfriends.

The idea for the group, which has grown with the help of her massive online presence, came from an intense period of loneliness.

"In my early twenties, I moved across town and that was enough to pull me from my community and my friends," she said.

Speaking to some of the girls during their walk, it's clear Ash's experience isn't uncommon.

"A lot of people make their friends in school and uni but I found that after uni, a lot of my friends moved away to different cities, different countries," Shona Holahan, a Hype Girl Social Club first-timer, said.

"I've met Gianna today," said another walker, Molly Graham, pointing to her new friend.

"[There's a lot of people] our age that are all, like, married with kids and stuff so it's much harder to meet people who are still out exploring."

Jessica says club provided a 'lifeline'

Jessica Keith has become one of the club's greatest advocates. She said the group "genuinely saved her life last year" when she was deeply struggling with her mental health.

"I was looking for connection, I was looking for any sort of lifeline coming out of that time, and I just wanted to be around new people in new environments and have new experiences, anything that would challenge those horrible stories that were going through my head," she said.

"It was really intimidating at first, and I just went, 'Is it weird if I'm showing up alone and wanting to meet new people? Is it going to be a bit of a strange experience?', and honestly the hardest part was showing up.

"The rest is history.

At the end of the walk there's time for the women to exchange details so they can continue the conversations they're having, which Ash loves to witness.

"They're chatting away and giggling and exchanging numbers … it's just, for me, so special to be able to help women feel safe enough to do that and experience that," she said.

"That's a confidence they can take with them into the rest of their lives as well."

Need for a range of clubs to appeal to diverse interests in communities, expert says

Psychologist Michelle Lim leads the Social Health and Wellbeing Laboratory at Swinburn University.

She said almost one in three Australians have reported feeling lonely.

And, in some parts of the world, loneliness has been flagged as the next public health priority, Dr Lim said.

"As we get older, there are people who report having more difficulties making friends and time to actually nurture those friendships," she said.

Dr Lim said increasing work pressures and heightened expectations to do more with families can affect the time people have to spend with others.

She said clubs and social groups were beneficial to allow people with shared interests to connect, and it was important for communities to have a diverse range of interest groups on offer.

"Men might favour more relationships but perhaps ones that might not be as deep," she said.

"For women, they might actually favour fewer relationships but maybe deeper, more meaningful ones."

She said there are other ways to maintain friendships than to join a club.

"There's a myth that for us to be more socially connected we have to do something major but I actually think that most of our connections are really kind of developed over a period of time," she said.

"Small steps, little efforts along the way really do make a difference and that kind of effort to say 'hi' and 'bye', for example, will change into more meaningful social interactions as long as we do those things consistently."