A National Friendship Database

Would such a database be a goldmine of potential victims for scams?   Lonely, vulnerable people don't always make good decisions......

Well doesn't that apply to dating apps too? They seem to be going well don't they? Or surely they'd be closed down.

The friendship one would have to be linked to some official body to run it I guess. I don't know...but there is a epidemic of loneliness in modern times. I see Japan has appointed a Minister for Loneliness because more Japanese people killed themselves last month than died from Covid in the last year.

I wonder if the UK will need a Minister for Loneliness too...

I'm not without folk, so not lonely that way, but would like to meet people with similar interests, esp someone to do 7:30am outdoor circuits with, or tai chi, night time fell running, wild camping, instead of nagging my friends and not getting anywhere.

I'm not without folk, so not lonely that way, but would like to meet people with similar interests, esp someone to do 7:30am outdoor circuits with, or tai chi, night time fell running, wild camping, instead of nagging my friends and not getting anywhere.

I wish I'd been more savvy before we moved here and avoided it. My next house move will be far better researched and considered. Of course the internet helps with research. The next town we move to is around 15K people- hopefully a lot more going on and more opportunities for friendship.

We have a town up the road like that - everyone is related to everyone else via second or third marriages or random children sprinkled around behind the scenes..

20,000 people!! OMG. I'd love that. Ours is a maximum of 4,000 people. Everyone is related to each other, grew up together, lived here all their lives. It's not easy to break through their barriers.

We live in a village - of over 20,000 people!    The definition of village varies somewhat depending on where you are in the country - especially as you approach London.

Dolls Houses are not as expensive as you'd think - if you buy a pre-loved one with all the accessories - we bought one from a family - the grandparent owned a doll's house business so this one has EVERYTHING - it must have cost thousands - the family and children were too scared to play with it and they moved house with it and eventually decided to sell - we got it for just over £100        It's a four-storey, double fronted mansion that is fully loaded with furniture.

ComicCons are great fun - especially if you make your own costume - and there's lots of youtubes explaining how to make body armour or weapons from dense foam.

Try TORM - https://www.reenactorsmarket.co.uk/ it's a fair for historical recreationalists - great fun.

Haha we are moving from the countryside to the town. The countryside is not as interesting as people think it is, especially if you have no car or transport to go anywhere and you're restricted to walking. It's been so lonely here, especially when I had a tiny and very sick child. We live down a lonely lane, the nearby houses are all rented so the people move in and out constantly, not interested in being friends or helping. I don't know how I've survived, I tried everything to make friends e.g. going to baby and toddler groups but the competitiveness was insane. We didn't have the money for lots of the groups anyway. Lots of lonely walks in the rain with my daughter, playing in the park alone with her...

Now Comicons and dolls houses appeal to me...but it's the cost. People think because I've been a stay at home mum that we are rich, but we have so little money I haven't been able to do anything expensive.

That is a nice thing to say! We can be online friends

I'm really jealous - we were going to escape to the country until my health collapsed.      

Think back to your childhood - what toys did you love the most?      There's all sorts of dressing-up hobbies - historical recreation groups and ComicCons.       Were you into Lego or doll's houses - it's a huge industry with lots of conventions and groups.    If these things appealed to you, you'll find like-minded people there.

You actually sound really interesting - I'd be your friend.

You're probably right that I'm looking in the wrong place but I didn't have any childhood interests, not that I can remember anyway. I just kind of went along with other people, I never had hobbies or went to any groups. I've always just been bemused by life and just trying to cope, bobbing along in the ocean.

In 3 years time though, we will be moving away from this boring, lonely village to pastures new- a town with 5 x the population of the village. I'm lucky that my job allows me to work from anywhere with internet, so I'm counting the days til my daughter finishes her education and we can move. I've been stuck here 20 years now but in THREE. MORE. YEARS we can fly away! tick tock tick tock 

I think that's my problem in fact. Due to declining health, I decided last year (before the pandemic) not to go out anymore so I stay in unless I need to buy some urgent thing from the village shop. I'm just stranded.

I really think you're just looking in the wrong place for friends - dig into your childhood interests and just look for the adult version - that's where you'll find all the people just like you - and I'll bet they'll all be ASD too.

I've met people off this website - the ones who sound interesting - we go to lots of places together - aircraft museums all around the country.

Yeah, groups mostly don't work for me, but they are spaces to find individuals. I've leant recently to go to places/groups that will have the type of person i'm looking for, and to keep with it til someone pops out. It's a lot of work but worth it.

Oh gosh meeting people with similar interests sounds amazing! I've just decided I don't fit into groups, I just get bullied. But as I said, we are moving away from this village in a few years to new horizons, a fresh start etc. Maybe I'll meet more friends there.