Harbour Magic - your social life sorted

Jo Losack has lived in Birdham for 35 years, and while she admits to having lots of friends she was keen to meet a group of new people.

“Many of my friends are couples and my family is all grown up so I found that on weekends my friends would be doing things as a couple or with the family, so I was looking for ways of socialising locally,” she explains.

In December 2018 Jo started researching what was available and found that there wasn’t much.

“So I decided to start my own,” she smiles.

In February Jo officially launched Harbour Magic, which holds between nine to 12 events a month from regular walks to supper clubs, as well as kayaking, clay pigeon shooting or pottery.

“We have been up the bell tower of Chichester Cathedral and there was a talk before about it.

“We have culture vultures so we go to the cinema or the theatre, we have done a tour of Tinwood Vineyard and gone on a boat to see the seals at Thorney Island.

“People say that the group has showed them places they hadn’t heard of before but also they have done things they wouldn’t have in the past.”

Harbour Magic currently has 40 members most of which are from the local area including Birdham, Chichester, Harting, Bosham, and the Witterings.

“Members are mainly single people but we do have couples, some who are married but their partner likes to play golf on the weekend and they want to do something for themselves,” she smiles.

Even though there are 40 members the groups tend to be between six and 12 people, to make is easier for people to chat.

Most of the events take place on weekends and midweek evenings, with plans for more events in the day as more and more members are retired.

Listening to members as to what they may be interested in doing has led Jo to launch a book club and a Harbour Magic pub quiz team.

The monthly membership fee is £19.97, with some events included in that such as the walks but meals can incur an extra cost and the first month of membership is free.

“I plan the calendar two months in advance,” explains Jo.

“I have met loads of lovely people since starting the group, we go on the saying ‘your social life sorted’.

“People don’t need to think about it they can just turn up and I host and arrange everything.”

With its popularity rising Jo is looking to hire another host to help with events but she still likes to attend as many as she can.

“In this day and age it can be really difficult to meet people especially if you don’t want to use the Internet,” she says.

“I have never been so busy, my social diary is buzzing.”

For more information, visit harbourmagic.co.uk