friends1st has members from the age of 24 to 96 and everything in between..

We have members in hundreds of towns across the UK so there is a good chance we will have someone living near where you do. Obviously we realise that making friends is much easier if you live in the same vicinity but we always advise our members not to select someone based on where they live as this changes and isn’t a good foundation for a relationship. If you want to see where our members have come from click here.

friendsfirst members are mainly British in nationality but the organisation is open to people of all and any nationality and we do have members who are not British: for example, Africans, Brazilians, Australians, Caribbean, Dutch, German, Greek, South African, etc.

Making new friends takes time and cannot be rushed. Finding the right person if you are looking for a meaningful relationship also takes time, and success rarely happens overnight. At friendsfirst we provide you with all the information you need to decide whether we are an organisation that will suit you. You don’t need a trial period to find this out. If you are committed to finding new friends, and/or a relationship, then you need to commit to a proper amount of time to doing so, and we consider a year’s membership to be at least the right amount of time for this.

Our four membership levels offer a variety of all inclusive features. All membership packages differ in what is included. They also differ in how often other members’ profiles are sent out to you. So if you are on the Silver membership you will receive a profile mailing four times a year – i.e. every quarter. If you are on the Gold membership you will receive a profile mailing every other month – i.e. bi-monthly, and if you are on the Platinum or Platinum Plus membership you will receive a profile mailing every month. However, whatever level of subscription you are on, your own profile will be circulated to other members each month. For more information on the benefits of each level of membership please click here.

Our four levels of membership were put in place to reflect the variety of needs that our members have. We offer a large variety of services and want every member to have access to all of these services. With regards to the differences in profile mailings some people are happy to work their way slowly through a list of profiles received every three months. Others perhaps have more time and want to be really pro-active and receive profiles very regularly, so the Platinum level is best for them. And there are those who would find every month a bit too much and prefer to stagger their receipt of profiles to every month or quarter.

This is a difficult question for us to answer because only you know how pro-active you are going to be and how much you value finding new friends and/or a partner. Our advice is to join the level of membership that you think meets your needs best. In all cases we are delighted to discuss your own personal circumstances with you and help you decide which really is the best level of membership for you.

friends1st is very easy to join. Simply fill out our application/profile form (either on or off line) and submit or send it to us. You also need to send us a form of identification. You can either pay on line through using our online joining payment gateway (the only thing we do online!) or you can send us a cheque.

We are more than happy to discuss how many members we have in the age groups that relate to you. This information is what is relevant to you personally rather than how many members we have in total. Please feel free to ring us on 0121 427 1286 and we will tell you how many members we have that are relevant to you and also which areas of the country they live in.

Yes, membership can be upgraded to the next membership level at any time you want.

You can terminate your membership at any time by contacting us by telephone, post or email to let us know that you no longer wish your membership to continue. However please be aware that all memberships are for a minimum term of 12 months so if you wish to cancel before that date your subscriptions will still be due until the 12 month period has expired

You can put your membership on hold at any time by contacting us either by telephone, post or email, and you can reinstate your membership at any time as long as you are still within your membership year.

We have a no – refund policy in our Terms and Conditions which all members agree to before joining. We only give refunds in exceptional circumstances and they are only ever considered after a full year’s membership has expired. Refunds for subsequent payments made originally by standing order will only be given on a pro rata basis. Very few similiar agencies offer refunds – so it’s not just us being mean!

Some people ask us for refunds because “No-one contacted me” but the way our system works is that you receive profiles too and you are supposed to be proactive and contact other members and not just wait to be contacted yourself. If you choose not to then that is not something that we can control.

We can offer a few members a highly personalised and individually tailored bespoke service to meet any particular needs they have whether that’s because they need additional support or are lacking in time to meet people themselves. Every bespoke service offered is different – if you think we can help you in additional ways, we’d be delighted to discuss our bespoke service with you. Please call us on 0121 427 1286 and speak to one of our team who will be delighted to talk to you.