Every session for older residents is free, from a Kensington Palace drop-in to a Coronet Theatre tour. Booking is open now, and none falls on the Sunday.
Thirty one free sessions for older residents are now listed on the council’s events calendar for Thursday 1 October to Friday 9 October, and every one of them costs nothing. The programme runs under the Silver Sunday banner, the national day for older people, which falls on Sunday 4 October this year.
Not one of the 31 sessions is on that Sunday.
The borough’s programme sits either side of it, and the busiest day by a distance is Monday 5 October, with nine sessions. Eight of the listings went up on Friday 11 September, judging by the council’s own news feed, so the calendar is still filling.
What is on, day by day
| Date | Time | What | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 1 Oct | 10am to 12pm | Creative Coasters | New Horizons, Cadogan Street SW3 |
| Thu 1 Oct | 12.15pm to 1pm | Move to Groove: The Lambada | New Horizons |
| Thu 1 Oct | 1.15pm to 2pm | Move to Groove: Creative Dance | New Horizons |
| Thu 1 Oct | 1.45pm to 3.15pm | All Abilities Art Class | St Margaret's Centre, Pimlico |
| Thu 1 Oct | 1.45pm to 3.15pm | Watercolours for All | The Avenues, Third Avenue W10 |
| Thu 1 Oct | 3pm to 5pm | Golden Shovel Poetry | New Horizons |
| Fri 2 Oct | 10.30am to 11.30am | Philosophy | Online |
| Fri 2 Oct | 1pm to 2pm | History of Art | Online |
| Fri 2 Oct | 2pm to 4pm | Creative Coasters | Second Half Centre, Exmoor Street W10 |
| Sat 3 Oct | 10am to 11.15am | Banqueting House private tour 1 | Banqueting House, Whitehall |
| Sat 3 Oct | 12.30pm to 1.45pm | Banqueting House private tour 2 | Banqueting House, Whitehall |
| Mon 5 Oct | 10am to 3pm | Warm and Welcome Space, drop in | Clore Learning Centre, Kensington Palace W8 |
| Mon 5 Oct | 11am to 1pm | Decoupage Workshop | Second Half Centre |
| Mon 5 Oct | 11.30am to 12.30pm | Coronet Theatre tour | 103 Notting Hill Gate W11 |
| Mon 5 Oct | 12.15pm to 1.15pm | Social Singing | St Margaret's Centre, Pimlico |
| Mon 5 Oct | 12.45pm to 1.45pm | Spanish Conversation: Coffee and Chat | Online |
| Mon 5 Oct | 1.15pm to 2.15pm | Open Space Talk: The Life of Jane Austen | The Avenues |
| Mon 5 Oct | 1.45pm to 3.45pm | Singing for All: Sing the Classics | Second Half Centre |
| Mon 5 Oct | 2.15pm to 4.15pm | Fun with Art: Mixed Media Class | Second Half Centre |
| Mon 5 Oct | 3pm to 4pm | Collaging Workshop | New Horizons |
| Tue 6 Oct | 10.30am to 2.30pm | Tour of the Royal Hospital and art session | Royal Hospital Road SW3 |
| Wed 7 Oct | 10am to 12pm | Board Games Cafe | The Avenues |
| Wed 7 Oct | 2.30pm to 4.30pm | Quiz and Social Games | New Horizons |
| Wed 7 Oct | 2.30pm to 4.30pm | Social Singing | New Horizons |
| Thu 8 Oct | 10am to 12pm | Literature and Poetry | New Horizons |
| Thu 8 Oct | 11am and 1pm | Two tours of the National Army Museum | Royal Hospital Road SW3 |
| Thu 8 Oct | 3.15pm to 4.30pm | Eco Crafts Workshop | Second Half Centre |
| Fri 9 Oct | 11.15am to 12pm | Move to Groove: Soul Train Line | Second Half Centre |
| Fri 9 Oct | 12.15pm to 1pm | Move to Groove: Caribbean Grooves | Second Half Centre |
| Fri 9 Oct | 2pm to 4pm | Junk Book Workshop | Second Half Centre |
| Fri 9 Oct | 2pm to 4pm | Mahjong Social | New Horizons |
Where they are, and which are not in the borough
Two centres carry more than half the programme. New Horizons, on the Guinness Trust Estate at Cadogan Street SW3, has nine sessions. The Second Half Centre, at the St Charles Centre for Health and Wellbeing on Exmoor Street W10, has eight.
Three sessions are online, which matters if getting out is the problem in the first place: philosophy and history of art on 2 October, and Spanish conversation on 5 October.
Three of the venues are outside Kensington and Chelsea, and the headline should not pretend otherwise:
- Banqueting House is on Whitehall in Westminster, about two and a half miles east of Kensington High Street. Both tours are on Saturday 3 October.
- St Margaret’s Centre is at 1 Carey Place, Pimlico, also Westminster.
- The Avenues is at 3 to 7 Third Avenue W10, on the Queen’s Park estate. The council’s own listing gives its area as Westminster.
The four in-borough set pieces are the ones most likely to go first:
- Kensington Palace, Clore Learning Centre, Monday 5 October, 10am to 3pm. Tea, coffee and company, with books, board games, art materials, an optional fitness class, an art class and snacks. No booking needed, which makes it the easiest thing on the list to turn up to.
- The Coronet Theatre, 103 Notting Hill Gate, Monday 5 October, 11.30am. A tour of the Grade II listed building.
- The Royal Hospital Chelsea, Tuesday 6 October, 10.30am to 2.30pm. A tour of the home of the Chelsea Pensioners, with an art session.
- The National Army Museum on Royal Hospital Road, Thursday 8 October. Two tours, 11am to 12.30pm and 1pm to 2.30pm. State which one you want when you book.
How to book
Most sessions are booked through Open Age, the charity that runs the borough’s Silver Sunday programme with the council.
- Call 020 4516 9971 or 020 3713 8737, both listed as Leo on the council’s event pages.
- Or email bookings@openage.org.uk.
- The Banqueting House tours have limited spaces and must be booked by email with the subject line “Silver Sunday Banqueting House Tour 1” or “Tour 2”.
- Kensington Palace needs no booking at all.
Each session has its own page on the council’s events calendar, with the address and the booking line for that one.
The national day has lost its national organiser
Silver Sunday began next door. It was launched by Cllr Christabel Flight, Westminster’s Older People’s Champion, as Westminster City Council’s own page records. That council also confirms the 2026 date as Sunday 4 October.
Age UK ran the day nationally and is not running it now. Its page says:
Age UK will no longer be coordinating Silver Sunday, but fully support anyone who wishes to hold an event in celebration of a national day that brings joy to thousands of people across the UK.
That has not stopped anything here, because the local programme has never depended on the national body. Open Age has coordinated Silver Sunday in Kensington and Chelsea since at least 2021, when the council announced the first borough programme it covered, and it was still doing so in 2022, when 19 organisations ran 35 sessions. This year’s 31 is close to that, and the calendar was still being added to on Friday.
What it means for you
These are taster sessions, and that is the practical point. The same centres run classes through the year, and the council’s listings tag every one of these as free and open to adults. Booking now costs nothing and holds a place.
If you are checking on an older neighbour or relative, the three online sessions and the Kensington Palace drop-in are the two easiest starting points, one because it needs no travel and the other because it needs no booking.
If you are travelling to one of them, be aware of what is happening on the roads that week. Our roadworks and travel page has the current closures, and the tube and travel page has the nearest stations and typical journey times. More of what is on locally is on our things to do in Kensington page.
Sources
- Events calendar, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, filtered to 1 to 15 October 2026 and read on 13 September 2026, for all 31 sessions, their dates, times, venues, prices and booking details. Individual listings include Warm and Welcome Space at Kensington Palace, the Coronet Theatre tour, the Royal Hospital tour and the National Army Museum tours.
- Silver Sunday, Westminster City Council for the 2026 date of Sunday 4 October and for who launched the day.
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea news feed, read 13 September 2026, for the eight Silver Sunday listings published on 11 September.
- Silver Sunday, Age UK for its statement that it will no longer be coordinating the day.
- Save the date for Silver Sunday, 3 October (2021) and Silver Sunday is coming to Kensington and Chelsea (2022), both Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, for Open Age’s role and the 2022 comparison of 19 organisations and 35 sessions.
Programmes change. Confirm the session on the council’s own listing before you travel.
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