friendsfirst Press Releases

Press release February 2006

St Valentine's Day message

Saint Valentines  Day is rapidly approaching. According to legend, St Valentine was an early Christian martyr who died on February 14, 269 AD. On his last day it is said he left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine". 

Ancient mythology tells us that birds begin their courtship on this day. The idea of sending cards and love letters on February 14th is at least as old as Chaucer and was mentioned in the Paston letters.

St Valentine’s Day can be a happy time of year if you are married or dating.  But if you are single with no immediate prospects of meeting that special other person in your life it can feel quite lonely.

With our hectic lifestyles today, it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet other people.  For Christians it is especially hard - as the number of believers are on the decline and  church communities are often quite separate from each other. Impersonal computer dating agencies can be scary and certainly often don’t cater for the needs of a Christian man or woman looking for new friends or a potential life partner.

One organisation which specializes in matching Christians of all denominations to each other, is friendsfirst.  Based in the heart of England, the agency has been very successful since they started six years ago.  They  recently received their 10,000th enquirer and have been responsible for 31 marriages in the last six years.  They currently have three new engagements with at least nine more the pipeline.

Director Katharine Gray said: “What makes us unique is that we offer a professional, confidential, personal and very friendly service. Our clients are at the heart of everything we do. We know people appreciate the support they get from us. Many new members who join us come personally recommended by those who’ve already found new friends or marriage partners through us.

If you would like to make this year¹s St Valentine¹s Day special, call: 0121 4271286, e-mail info@friends1st.co.uk or visit: http://www.friend1st.co.uk

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. friendsfirst should ideally be the foundation for anything else that may develop after a period of time.

Successes

To date there have been 31 marriages and 3  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, Essex, Somerset, Wiltshire, Cheshire, Lancs, Belper, Leicester, Chesterfield, Halifx, Worcester, Nottingham, Tring, Lincoln, Maidstone, Loughborough, Stirling, Bristol, Basildon, Windsor, Didcot, Leicester, Stirling, London.

For further information: (not for publication)   Katharine can be contacted on 0121 427 1286