Atalanta Harmsworth, an actress in her late 40s, founded creativesdating. When Suzanne Hartington, an attractive divorcee in her early 50s, placed her advert on an internet dating site, she knew exactly what she was looking for: someone roughly the same age to share her love of cooking and country walks.
There are thousands of similar requests out there, jostling for space in online forums and lonely-hearts columns. But Suzanne, a paralegal from Devon, chose this particular dating site because she knew its male subscribers would meet her one essential dating criteria β that they, too, wanted a meaningful relationship forged on an entirely platonic basis.
Difficult though it is to believe, in our seemingly sex-obsessed era, Suzanne is far from alone. In fact, in recent years a growing number of dating sites have sprung up aimed at bringing together both men and women looking for an affectionate, cerebral connection with a member of the opposite gender β without a sexual element. Meanwhile, creativesdating. Platonic Partners was set up eight years ago by Suzie King, a counsellor from Cambridge who is now 59, after she realised there was no forum for people like her who craved companionship and affection, yet had lost interest in the sexual side of life.
Now Platonic Partners has nearly 6, members, from 18 to 80, all united in their wish to take sex off the dating agenda. Take it away and people learn to communicate properly, to really connect. Including β perhaps surprisingly β many men, such as Michael, 48, from Hampshire, an operations director for an international transportation company. Charming, good-looking and robustly heterosexual, he has nonetheless been celibate for 20 years and says joining the site was liberating.
I had no sexual confidence. I had endless therapy, but it made no difference. Pretending to be commitment-phobic was the only face I could present to the world. Indeed, through the site he has met a year-old divorcee who shares his feelings. It is exactly the sort of relationship Suzanne Hartington is seeking. But the reality is I just want to meet someone I can potter around with, someone who shares my values. That sentiment is shared by Atalanta Harmsworth, an actress in her late 40s, who founded creativesdating.
