Joining Manchester Spice really turned my life around. After a marriage break up and the death of both my parents within a short period, and with both children grown up and moved away, I was suddenly left thinking, What next ? I remembered that someone had told me about Spice, and how wonderful it was, many years previously. I wondered whether it still existed, so looked it up on the internet, plucked up the courage to make that phone call and enquire, and have never looked back. I was in my mid-fifties when I joined, and have had the opportunity to do things I would never have imagined: white water rafting (including the most fabulous holiday ever in the Grand Canyon) horse-riding for the first time since my teens, bell ringing, foraging for delicious wild foods and cooking them out of doors. Then there are the balls, and the parties I've been to more parties in the last six years than in all the rest of my life put together. I've been walking, both locally and on weekends away in other beautiful parts of the UK; I've visited lots of places of interest, including some I would never have got into as a member of the general public; I've been on bargain priced weekends away with cheerful and friendly people and lots to do, but there are also more high-end holidays and breaks available if you want that and your budget will stretch a little further. I've been to demonstrations, workshops, discussion groups, the theatre, BBC recordings, concerts the list just goes on and on.
But above all, the huge advantage of this group is the people you meet. There are friends for everyone in Spice, as the membership is very varied. It can seem a little slow on that front, and a little daunting at first, but don't make up your mind after the first event you try, or even the first two or three. As you relax into it you will realise that you are beginning to see some faces that look familiar from previous events, and the event co-ordinators and walk leaders usually do a great job of putting people at their ease and helping them to mingle. I've taken advantage of the activities run by Spice groups all over the country and made even more friends that way. And Spice makes it so easy to do the kind of things you would never be able to arrange to do as an individual, often things you might never even have thought of !
Yes, there are occasional disappointments that's life, as Esther Rantzen used to say. But when I think of my life 7 years ago, and look at it now, and the effect that Spice has had on me, I know that joining was one of the best decisions I ever made. read more
