A GOLF club is inviting people aged over 50 to a new weekly games club, to prevent isolation.

The free club starts today (Monday, January 6) from 10am to noon at Ravenmeadow Golf Centre in Hindlip and attendees can play a variety of board games including UNO, chess and Scrabble.

Angela Leaver, 44, runs Ravenmeadow with her husband, James and is launching the games club to help the elderly combat loneliness.

Mrs Leaver said: “I volunteered at Reconnections in Worcester for a while, but I found it difficult, a lot of the service users were nervous and very vulnerable, so they would cancel appointments before I got the chance to meet them.

“I said to my husband, there must be a better way to do this, and so we came up with the idea of doing a free games morning here at the club.

“Last year a couple of our regulars sadly lost their partners. They are in their 60s and 70s and still come in once a week – for some people this is the only place they get to be with other people. It is heartbreaking. We try to provide a a real family environment, I like to take care of people.”

The couple have owned the golf club for the last twelve years and moved from Ledbury to Worcester with their children six years ago.

Mrs Leaver added: “I have been wanting to do something for the people of Worcester for years. I think it is a really wonderful place and me and my family are so grateful and so blessed, we want to give something back.

“I feel like contributing to others is good for the soul and it sets a good example to my children. Life isn’t just about what we can get, it's also about what we can give.”

The games morning will be held every Monday during term time from 10am to noon, no booking or payment is required, and everyone is welcome.

The venue features a large seating area for up to 90 guests, a café style bar serving food and drink, disabled toilets and lots of free parking.

It is also accessible by bus – the 144 stops directly opposite the golf club.

35,000 people over 50 living in Worcestershire are lonely, according to Age UK.

Lonely older people are four times more likely to have depression, nine times more likely to develop dementia and five times more likely to enter local authority-funded residential care, the charity's research shows.