The Story Behind Monday Club
A common sense approach to healthy ageing
It's time for a new way to age well
Our vision is to create a place that supports healthy ageing – from your 50s through to your 90s and beyond.
Our definition of ageing well is simple: it’s feeling good. Being able to say, “I feel good” – in yourself, in your body, and in your life. It’s about contentment with where you are and confidence in what’s ahead.
We’re at the halfway mark between 50 and 90 ourselves, and have spent the past 20 years working in the ageing space. Jill as a physiotherapist in aged care homes, and Chris as a journalist visiting hundreds of retirement villages and aged care communities, speaking with residents and experts across Australia and around the world.
What we’ve learned is that healthy ageing isn’t that complicated. It’s mostly common sense: look after your strength, your bones, and your diet; keep good people around you; and have someone who sees you and supports you when you need it. This is the essence of the traditional village.
Too often we’ve seen what happens when people don’t invest in themselves: the loss of movement and confidence, a shrinking world, increasing aloneness and negative thinking. In other words, years, even decades, of not feeling good.
Monday Club is our answer. Born in Balmain, Sydney, it’s a welcoming local place that brings together physical health, community connection, and practical support, including support at home when it makes life easier.
You can join us at our first location in Balmain, or be part of our Virtual Village online, wherever you are. You choose what matters most: easing into gentle or more structured exercise, building connections with like-minded people, or combining both. It’s your call.
We’re here to share what we’ve learnt and help you invest in your next 10, 20 or even 50 years of healthy ageing.
Jill and Chris Baynes
Our vision
We’re here to transform how older Australians experience ageing, by creating welcoming, local clubs where movement, social connection, and support come together to support healthy ageing and a more joyful life.
At Monday Club, we believe ageing well means staying active, feeling part of a community, and having trusted support as life changes. It’s about living fully – not just getting by.
Our vision is to see Monday Clubs in neighbourhoods across Australia, each one filled with people who feel stronger, more connected, and more confident about the years ahead.
Because healthy ageing doesn’t start later. It starts now.
Why Monday Club
When Chris was in his late 40s, he was retrenched with the blunt words: “Don’t come Monday.” Recruiters told him he was too old to land a comparable role, and they were right. The opportunities simply weren’t there.
But instead of stepping back, Chris used that moment as a turning point. He founded Do Come Monday, a business built on the belief that people of every age have value, purpose, and more to give. Over time, it grew into the DCM Group, a respected voice in ageing, retirement living, and the community sector.
Monday Club is the next chapter of that journey. It carries forward the same belief: that age is not a barrier, but a strength, and that healthy ageing is about staying active, connected, and engaged in life.
Here, people over 50 can rediscover a sense of community, build their wellbeing, and prove that every Monday is still worth showing up for.
Here to help you stay strong, connected, and living well
Chris Baynes
Jill Baynes
Nathan Hall
