friendsfirst Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE 

11th  October 2004

NO STOPPING THEM LOVE BIRDS

Christian introduction agency, friendsfirst, has had a bumper year for introductions and marriages, proving that however young or old you are, it’s never too late for love.

The year ends with a young couple, Matthew and Miriam from Wiltshire, aged 26 and 35, tying the knot in what promises to be a gorgeous winter wedding. It’s been a year of contrasts with one of the first marriages of the year being between two members Eric and Margaret, aged 86 and 76 respectively! 

86 year old Eric from Belper was widowed after 56 years of marriage. Friends and family call him a spring chicken what with his preaching in the Methodist church, writing for Christian publications, acting in TV pop soaps, and keeping up a whole host of hobbies such as playing the keyboard and accordion! Margaret from Margate had also been widowed and compliments Eric wonderfully with her interests in classical music, theatre, walking, animals and her enjoyment of people. She was not looking for someone to marry again when she joined friendsfirst, but only for a companion – and was bowled over with delight when Eric asked her to marry him shortly after they’d met. Their feedback is very common:-

“We are just writing to let you know we will not be rejoining friendsfirst because we are getting married. We cannot thank you enough that we met through you and are very much in love and very happy. The real organiser of our future was, and still is, the Lord. God himself has used your services to join together people like us. Thank you again.” 

Matthew and Miriam’s wedding is the 20th wedding that friendsfirst is responsible for and there are many more in the pipeline, of people in their 30s, 40’s, 50s, and 60s.

“When you’re looking for a companion, or long term relationship, says Katharine Gray, friendsfirst Director, it really doesn’t matter how old or young you are. One of the most important things is that all our members share a common Christian faith”.

People from all walks of life and all area’s of the country join friendsfirst. With the youngest member being 20 and the oldest being 88, it goes to show that the desire for companionship and friendship really is something that affects people – however young or old.

Notes for Editors

Katharine Gray established friendsfirst in October 1999 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.

Successes

To date there have been 20 marriages and a further number of engagements between ‘friendsfirst’ members.  These couples span every age group including couples in their 60’s and 70’s. The couples involved come from the following area’s Dudley, Tamworth, Essex, Liverpool, Manchester, Rugby, Wigan, Bolton, Birmingham, Bath, Cambridge, Darlington, Sheffield, Basingstoke, Bedfordshire, Cheltenham, Malvern, Walsall, Solihull, Cornwall, Stamford, Preston, Halesowen, Wolverhampton, Cambridge, Loughton, Somerset, Wiltshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, Poole, Hampshire, and Chesterfield.