We are often asked how successful friendsfirst is?
If you judge success by the number of marriages we've had then we are very successful. And if you add in the numbers of people making new friends (which is what some people join for) then it's even better
For more details of couples stories
> click here
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Enhance your social skills!
Would you like to be better at meeting people, feel more confident and do it more often? We've teamed up with The Dating Doctor giving you preferential rates on a whole range of his services.
For more details.
> click here
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Enquirers Newsletter September 2006
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| Welcome to friendsfirst's 8th Newsletter |
20th September 2006 - Issue 8  |
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| Dear friends, |
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Hello and Welcome to friendsfirst's 8th newsletter.
In case you've missed the previous issues, we are a Christian organization that provides a very personalised service supporting single Christians to meet other single Christians for friendship and relationships.
If you are single and deep down would like someone special in your life then read on for more information about our organization.
If you are married or in a relationship, please do forward this newsletter on to any single friends you have. Even if they haven't explicitly acknowledged it to you, they are probably looking for someone special too and getting our newsletter may be their first step to finding someone!
We trust you will enjoy this newsletter,
With best wishes,
Katharine Gray - Director, and the team at friendsfirst
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| FRIENDSFIRST NEWS |
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Lots has been happening here in the office. We've had a mad few months! Wayne our membership manager got married in Zimbabwe, bringing back 100s of photographs of their great day. Africans certainly know how to celebrate and Wayne hasn't stopped smiling since. (That may have something to do with his beautiful bride too of course! Ed)
Kriszti Kovacs has joined our team as our events manager and has already started lining up a fantastic programme of events. See below for more information.
On the membership front we have 2 new exciting developments:
- We now include photographs in members profiles and it's making a really diffference to the amount of contact people get. To have a look at what our profiles now look like clic k here.
- We have a small but growing number of members over 70 years in age. Consequently we're now offering them a lifetime membership for a small fee. It's proving very popular and the number meeting and tying the knot just keeps going up!
It's been a busy summer for our members too. 5 couples tied the knot and started a new life together, bringing our total number of marriages to 40. That's the problem with our business though. People join in ones but leave in twos!!!
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| DIVORCED AND LOOKING? |
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| It's a very sad but true fact that Christians are not immune to the hard pressures of married life which for many can and do lead to divorce. We talk to so many people who are divorced and who face a whole range of issues in their lives as a result of their divorce. Obviously there's the pain of the divorce itself, but years later there are often barriers and fears about starting a new relationship. And yet divorced people are no different from unmarried singles who long for companionship.
One of our previous members, the Revd David Robertson and I had many conversations about this (he was divorced himself when he joined friendsfirst in January 2003) and after he'd met and married fellow member Gill, he agreed to write a book for us specifically for people like him, who were divorced and wanting to meet new people.
'Risking Romance Again - Dating after Divorce' has now been published and is a fantastic manual for divorced people looking to start new relationships. It's short, pithy and very thought provoking and has already received excellent reviews by the Bishops of Bedford and Hereford. The book has also received a lot of media coverage including news about it in the Daily Telegraph and David has been very busy giving lots of radio and other press interviews. For further information about dating after divorce and the book itself, click here.
The book can be ordered directly from us - call 0121 427 1286 or from Amazon.com or from any good bookshop. It costs £7.99 plus p&p. Buy it for yourself if you are divorced (or dating a divorcee) or alternatively it'd make a great present for someone you know who is divorced.
The book prompted us to conduct a survey for divorced people. If you'd like to take part, please click here.
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| OUR EVENTS PROGRAMME |
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| What a glorious summer we've had. But how quickly the light seems to be going and the nights getting longer. Does your social life decline at this time of year? If so, why not sign up to some of the events we're putting on. They open to all Christians and you don't have to be a friendsfirst member to come.
Very soon we'll be launching a packed programme of events in Bristol, Manchester and London complementing our events already organised for Birmimgham in the coming months. The programme will include things like wine tasting, quiz nights, Salsa dancing, comedy evenings, Christmas carols and meals out. Make sure you don't miss our emails about these events by signing up to our events emails (see sign up box at top of this email) and checking out our constantly changing eve nts page on our website.
Our events do tend to book up fast (our recent summer holiday was sold out) so if you want to come to any of them, don't leave it to the last minute to book. Better still if you book early you'll be able to take advantage of our early bird discounts.
For more details of our forthcoming events click here
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| AUTUMN SALE |
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It's amazing how many people join us years after they first contacted us. When we ask them why they delayed, we often hear the same thing - ie people leaving things to chance and or just hoping someone special would come along. And then finally they decide to make a move themselves and join us and wish they'd done it alot earlier.
Life flies by so fast doesn't it? If you too are procrastinating about whether to join friendsfirst or not, let us help you with our Autumn offer. Join before 31st October 2006 and you'll get a £50 reduction in whatever level you join at. Go on make this year different. Meeting new people is what you've been waiting for. And if you're still not sure about us read below what others have said about us recently.
- “My membership of friendsfirst gave me the confidence to get up, get out and meet new people – and eventually to my meeting someone really special that I have clicked with. I am very grateful to you.”
- “Please find enclosed my cheque for the renewal of my membership. I have been in contact with some very interesting people during my membership and I look forward to another year as a member of friendsfirst
- “friendsfirst is a wonderful organisation, thank you for giving me the opportunity to join”
- “Thank you for all the information you have sent me over the last year it has been very helpful. I found friendsfirst a great way to find new friends and I would recommend you to my friends. Thank you for everything and I pray that God will bless you as a company and that friendsfirst will continue the brilliant work.”
That's only a fraction of the feedback we get. If you'd like to read more, please click here.
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| RECOMMEND A FRIEND |
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| The majority of friendsfirst members hear about us through friends. So recently we've introduced a 'Thank you scheme' whereby if people recommend friendsfirst to a friend or colleague we'll send them a big thank you. This takes the form of a choice of four gifts - from a delicious food hamper, a stunning bouquet of flowers, a half case of wine or £40 of M&S vouchers. If you'd like to recommend a friend we can send you a flier to use to claim your 'thank you'. Please ring us on 0121 427 1286 for more details. |
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That's all for now. I hope you have enjoyed reading our latest newsletter. We would love to hear what you think of it and of course if you have any suggestions or requests for the next edition please email us at editors@friends1st.co.uk
Katharine Gray friendsfirst
email: editors@friends1st.co.uk phone: 0121 427 1286 web: http://www.friends1st.co.uk |
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