Safe speed-dating event to be held in Carlisle

Barbara Cavora, from Carlisle, got the idea after she set up a friendship group in the city for anyone who would like company, someone to go to events with, or someone to simply talk to.

But it was on the subject of dating that Barbara decided more needs to be done.

“When I talked about dating, I noticed a pattern.

“People go on dating sites but they don’t like what happens, sometimes there’s something different about the person in real life to how they appear online,” she said, commenting on the ‘catfishing’ phenomenon where people aren’t who they appear to be on dating sites or social media.

“I’ve known people who went to meet someone who was a completely different person from the one on their dating profile.

“They might say they’re a ‘news distributor’ but they just do a paper round.

“I know a lot of women who have ended up with social anxiety and it leads to bigger problems.

“It does affect people, I've been in that situation, and I know how hard it is to meet people and to get people to be honest with you,” she added.

Barbara said there’s a gap in the market for this: “There’s nothing, to my knowledge, in the area where you can go to a secure place and be safe and meet other people to date.

“It’s a secure environment for people to meet people of the opposite sex.”

Fundamental to the event is the fact it’s run by women, with women’s safety in mind, so if anything goes wrong or is made to feel unsafe, there are people there to help throughout.

The first session will determine how popular the idea is, so will be limited to 50 tickets at Lux on Warwick Road in Carlisle, and based on the response, they may move to a bigger venue, she said.

Barbara also said she and the group are open to suggestions on future events of this kind, such as same-sex speed dating, or different venues.

It will take place on October 20 at 8:30pm, for a £5 ticket, and is open to anyone 18 or over.

To book, call Barbara on 07359516769.