Suzie Carvalho found it hard to make new friends after hitting 70.

“People are just not as friendly as they used to be,” said the 74-year-old Smith’s resident and entrepreneur, who in 2017 was growing her home and office decluttering business. “People are much more reserved than they once were.”

To help remedy the situation for herself and others, she has started a business offering entertaining afternoons for Bermuda’s older crowd, out of her own dining room.

She is calling them Seniors Paint Par-Teas.

“It will be an experience,” she said. “For $60 each, seniors will get lunch, all the supplies for painting and a really nice tea.”

Participants do not have to have any experience with painting or talent to take part. There will also be board games for those who are not feeling arty.

“They do not have to know how to even hold a paintbrush,” Ms Carvalho said. “I have some really cute, fun painting exercises.”

She said painting is a good stress reliever and also helps with mental acuity and hand-eye coordination.

“The focus is not so much on the painting, but on building a community where seniors can meet other seniors,” she said. “The painting is meant to be an icebreaker.”

People over 65 are expected to make up a quarter of Bermuda’s population by next year, but Ms Carvalho said there is still not much to do for this age bracket, other than the odd night of bingo.

“Here, I am putting them into a setting where they are almost forced to talk to each other,” she said. “I want to make them feel special and enhance their lives, if only briefly.

“People can come once or twice a month. If they find someone they gel with, they can swap telephone numbers or invite them out for coffee.”

She said one advantage of going to a paint party is that unlike yoga, attendees do not have to get hot and sweaty.

“I also want to meet new people and this is a chance to do that,” she said. “This island is full of seniors who feel like they have been forgotten by society. When you are younger, you do a lot of socialising at work. When you retire you see people from work a little bit and then it peters out. If you do not have a partner and are on your own, it can be tough.”

She plans to host groups of five people, twice a week out of her home.

Men and women are welcome as well as younger adults who are new to the island — but no children.

“I am also happy to go to care homes, if someone wants me to work with a group of people there,” she said.

She kicks off her programme on November 5 and will be holding events every Tuesday and Friday.

• For more information, e-mail Suziecarv@gmail.com or call 537-4838