Encouraging conversations about sex, intimacy and wellbeing

Professor Sharron, who gave the keynote at the event at the St Crispin’s Community Centre, Northampton said “Intimate relationships remain important as we age. The Age of Love Cafes tackle taboos, break down barriers and improve access to high quality advice and support.”

With the Cafés specifically developed to enable safe spaces to talk without judgment or prejudice in an environment which is convivial and confidential, the Northamptonshire event was hosted by local grant-giving charity CLICK Arts Foundation, with refreshments from esteemed Northampton cancer charity The Lewis Foundation, and speakers included entrepreneur Shalom Lloyd, founder of Naturally Tribal Skincare, Occupational Therapist Natalie Summers, and recent Rose of Northamptonshire winner Patsy Wright covering topics around wellbeing, loneliness, sexual desire and empowerment. Menopause Support UK provided booklets on how to initiate conversations about menopause as well as a symptom checker; and NLive’s Dr Audrey Tang ran a burlesque taster class to demonstrate you’re never too old to try something new.

Professor Sharron added “We know from scientific research that intimacy and sex can be a meaningful part of life, however the topic is sensitive because of social stereotypes and barriers through previous experience of talking about this with partners, friends, or even health professionals.”

The whole event was extremely well received with calls for more to be held. Along with their appreciation one of the attendees said “When you’re told the same thing again and again from a Doctor – it’s your weight, you think it’s you – but when you hear someone else has been through similar, you think ‘I’m NOT strange or the only one’” And Jemma Gambrill, who was part of the burlesque performance reflected on the event saying “Today made me really happy – it went so well. We hope that this will be the start not just of opportunities such as this – but more important conversations being had.”

CLICK Arts Foundation Trustee Abigail Gill added “The Café enabled us to learn, but also to listen, speak and connect. When I got home, I opened the conversation of menopause with my mum, and learned things I never knew and feel our relationships has grown with just this understanding.”

The Age of Love Café, Northampton may have put away its cups, but you can learn more about the movement here: https://www.ageoflove.org/about