Social networking club launches in Bristol to help people find new connections

Organisers Lucy Coxon (L) and Sarah Davies said they hoped Click events would give people the chance to forge "genuine friendships"

Two women are launching a social networking club next month to help tackle loneliness among the under 40s.

Organisers Lucy Coxon, 26, and Sarah Davies, 31, are launching Click on 1 May to promote friendship in Bristol.

Events from running to wine-tasting nights will be available once a week for people to join in with at different venues across the city.

The pair said they wanted it to be "as accessible as possible" but added it was not a speed-dating service.

The first event has 50 places and will take place at Mercy Mercy Mercy in Clifton.

Yoga teacher Ms Coxon and pub manager Ms Davies said they saw the need for a social networking club after experiencing difficulty in making new friends in adulthood.

Ms Coxon said she hoped the weekly not-for-profit Click events would give people the space and opportunity to meet new people.

Events have been organised for the next two months, with a mixture of free and paid for evenings at various prices

The pair few met a few years ago at a yoga class Ms Coxon was teaching.

Ms Coxon said: "I thought Sarah was really cool and I wanted to be her friend."

They followed each other on Instagram and Ms Coxon proposed a "friend date"'.

"I have no shame", Ms Coxon said, "but not everyone is like that".

'Genuine friendships'

Ms Davies, who is training to be a sommelier, said: "When you're young, it's really easy.

"You're in a playground and you can run up to someone and be like, 'Hello, let's be friends now', but you can't do that as an adult".

The in-person social networking concept has been tried in London but has not yet reached Bristol, the organisers say.

Ms Davies said social anxiety seems to have increased in the past few years with the rise in remote working following Covid and social connections harder to form when working from home.

She said: "I speak to my friends and they say, 'I don't know how you just go and say hello to people, it terrifies me.'

"Hopefully this will reduce that slightly", she added.

According to the Office for National Statistics, 40.5% of people reported experiencing medium or high levels of anxiety in 2022.

Emma Brech, CEO of non-profit organisation Bristol Mind, said they were seeing an increase in the number of 25-35 year olds reporting feelings of anxiety and a "lack of social confidence" since the pandemic.

She said: "Generally the millennial generation works very hard, and the COVID lockdowns really came in and cut them off.

"We are now seeing that this age group are more risk averse."

The Click team has organised a range of events for the next two months, with a mixture of free and paid for evenings at various costs.

The women said they hoped Click becomes a social networking club where attendees can make "genuine friendships" in a collective that "really cares".