15 Years - 15 Stories of Belonging: Tuesday Club
Tuesday Club Inclusive Connections: Connection That Lasts a Lifetime
On Tuesday mornings at The Place, something special happens.
There’s laughter before the tea has even been poured. Familiar faces greet each other not with small talk, but with the ease of long-standing friendship. Stories are shared, checked in on, and continued from week to week. For over 45 years, the Charlestown Square Tuesday Club has been quietly creating what many people are searching for—a place to connect, to be known, and to belong.
For much of its history, the Tuesday Club has been a space for women, many of whom have been attending for years, even decades. Several are now in their late 80s and 90s, with a number approaching 100.
Across changing seasons of life, the group has provided something constant: friendship, routine and a place where people feel recognised and valued.
Life has changed around them in many ways, but Tuesday remains.
In a world where social circles can shrink with age through retirement, loss, or changing health, spaces like this become essential. Not just somewhere to go, but somewhere you are expected, welcomed and missed if you’re not there.
“You don’t have to explain yourself here, people just know you.”
This is what real connection looks like.
Insights from the Connecting Seniors Report reinforce what is visible in the room.
As people age, the risk of loneliness and social isolation increases not simply because they are alone, but because opportunities for meaningful, ongoing connection become fewer.
Loneliness research tells us that it’s the quality and consistency of relationships that matter most. In response, the Tuesday Club has evolved.
Since early 2025, the group has begun welcoming men, recognising that connection and belonging are essential for all seniors and that older men, in particular, can face significant barriers to social connection. Rebranding to Charlestown Square Tuesday Club Inclusive Connections, yest still affectionately known as "Tuesday Club", this shift reflects something important: community is not static. It grows and adapts to meet the needs around it.
The group provides exactly that:
- A regular rhythm
- Familiar faces and trusted relationships
- A safe space to share life as it is
Tuesday Club is your place to connect - Connection isn’t forced or overly structured. It happens naturally, built over time through shared experience, humour, care and presence.
It’s in the way someone saves a seat.
Checks in if you’ve been unwell.
Remembers your story.
This is the kind of connection that sustains people.
Across Australia, Community Centres like The Place are at the frontline of responding to loneliness and social isolation.
But what happens here isn’t always loud or visible.
It’s quiet.
It’s consistent.
And it changes lives.
For the Tuesday Club, connection is something people return to, week after week.
As we celebrate 15 Years of Belonging, stories like this remind us that connection just needs a place to happen.
And for many, that place is right here at The Place.
Tuesday Club Inclusive Connections meets on Tuesday mornings during the school term at The Place – find out more HERE
