friendsfirst Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE

INFORMATION FROM KATHARINE GRAY

0121 452 2918 (DAY)

8th January 2001

THEY SAY “CHRISTMAS ONLY COMES ONCE A YEAR” - BUT NOW ST. VALENTINES COMES EVERY DAY.

Have you ever seen so much potential love in our newspapers as you do today?  Open any one and you’ll see hundreds of ads for people looking for relationships.  St. Valentine’s day will see an explosion of hopefuls.  But for Christians, St. Valentine’s day needn’t be a one off thanks to a new introduction service called friendsfirst that’s just been launched in the West Midlands.

friendsfirst provides single Christians with other members’ profiles through a directory that is regularly sent to members.  It’s an informal and pressure-free service that is easy, popular and effective.  Members choose to contact each other by telephone or using a friendsfirst box number system.  There’s no limit to the number of new friends that can be made.

One of the early members, Phil Cullen commented “There’s is real gap in the market for this type of service for Christians, and friendsfirst offers a completely non-threatening way to meet new people.  I’m very excited by the possibilities it provides.”

Ministers across Birmingham including The Reverend Canon John Hughes, The Reverend Brian Nicholls and Bishop Jo Aldred have supported the initiative welcoming a service which offers something practical for single people.

friendsfirst can be contacted on 0121 427 1286 or through Box Number 8377, Harborne, Birmingham, B17 9TE.

Note to Editors

Katharine Gray established friendsfirst in January 2000 to meet the needs of many single Christians across the country who may feel isolated from other single Christians. There is a growing number of single Christians in the UK, who are remaining single for longer because of work commitments and social lives which are not conducive to meeting sufficient Christians of the opposite sex outside of their immediate contemporaries in their own churches.

Name:  friendsfirst.   The service is called friendsfirst because the philosophy behind it is that friendships are vitally important and are at the heart of any good and meaningful relationship. Friendship should ideally be the foundation for anything else that may develop after a period of time.

Comments from the mentioned and other vicars can be sought:

The Reverend Canon John Hughes (Vicar of St. Johns Harborne)  0121 427 4601

The Reverend James Langstaff  0121 427 5141

Bishop Jo Aldred (Executive Director of The Centre for Black and White Christian Partnership) 0121 415 2372

The Reverend Brian Nicholls (General Superintendent of the West Midlands Area of the Baptist Union of Great Britain)

Quotes may also be obtained from the Anglican Diocesan press officer Sue Primmer who can be contacted on 0121 427 5141

Cost:  Membership stands at £95 for a year’s membership.

Security/Confidentiality: For members security and reassurance, all applicant members are asked to provide some form of identification that validates that they are who they say they are. Box numbers for correspondence between members are provided in the profiles for security reasons. However members are able to provide other members with their telephone number, so that they can be contacted directly if they so wish. Since some members may be well known in their local area there is the option to be referred to in the profiles by a nickname. friendsfirstholds members details on computer and is registered with the Data Protection Register.

For further information:

Katharine can be contacted:-

• during the day on either 0121 452 2918