‘Uplifting’ Earls Barton-based charity Golden Years begins new weekly group activity as it continues to support local community

"Have you ever ridden an elephant, Laura?”

One of the many off-the-cuff conversations at Kitty’s Closet in Earls Barton, this one references Golden Years’ ambitious attempt to take on a new activity corresponding with a different letter of the alphabet in celebration of the charity’s six-year anniversary in July.

Golden Years is based at Kitty’s Closet in the village. It provides social events for people of all ages to get involved in the community and help give them a platform to make new friends with anything from outlandish activities to humble coffee mornings.

Growing exponentially over the years, the charity will next week launch a new weekly group to add to its selfless efforts.

Wednesdays at the Great Doddington Club will focus on well-being with people meeting from June 7. It will prioritise the health of its community with a walk around the local area, weight and blood pressure checks, and lunch served at midday.

Attendees will even be given a ‘well-being passport’, which allows them to document and stay on top of their health.

The charity launched in 2017, and had a presence in Wellingborough before setting up shop in Station Road in 2020.

It’s entirely self-sufficient, with profits from Kitty’s Closet’s clothing and accessories going back to the charity to help fund its activities like abseiling, wing-walking and excursions to places including flower shows, the National Memorial Arboretum, and Wimbledon as well as recent trips to London and Dublin.

Meg Neilan left nursing training to pursue the development of Golden Years ‘to make a difference in the community.’

She said: “We’re very much about breaking boundaries about what old age is. We’re about breaking the norm.

"We’re uplifting, we have fun everywhere we go.

"I’m proud of what we have achieved. Some people don’t do the things we do in a year in a lifetime.”

The Northants Telegraph caught up with a handful of people from Golden Years on Friday, June 1 in Kitty’s Closet, where every Thursday people from the local area gather for a chat and to model some of the store’s wares in the window for passers by, who often seem confused but never walk past without letting out a grin.

Sharing conversation over a teacake and a brew, the communal feel of Golden Years is immediately evident, and it’s clear that the work it does is instrumental not just to the people that pop into the shop, but for the community at large.

Those in the shop called Golden Years a ‘community hub’ and a ‘lifeline’, with one lady saying ‘this saved my life’ after her partner died..

Since the pandemic, the charity has naturally expanded to bring more people of all ages into the fold, as younger people in perhaps their sixties and seventies are overlooked by services and charities. Golden Years is bridging that gap and showing that everyone can be affected by loneliness, isolation, or social exclusion, and that there has to be an outlet for everyone to make both friends and memories.

Kitty’s Closet provides customers with a friendly atmosphere and plenty of variety in its clothing. Nothing costs in excess of £50 and it doesn’t contribute to landfill at all, with unsold garments being donated to local charities like Cransley Hospice and The Daylight Centre, ensuring that the business is both sustainable and affordable to help curb the impact of the cost of living crisis.

More information about Golden Years and the work it does can be found on the charity’s Facebook page, or by popping into Kitty’s Closet in Earls Barton.

The teacakes are excellent.