Ceri (54) and Neel (45) met on Chapter 2 dating site at the end of November 2022 and have been dating for three months.

They ‘met’ each other on the site a few days after they both joined and exchanged a few messages back and forth. They soon progressed to texting and met up shortly after that. They haven’t looked back.

Neel was widowed in 2020 after his partner of 20 years, Carol, passed away following a cancer diagnosis. He joined Widowed and Young (WAY) as it offered support from people who truly understood what he was going through. Neel never tried any of the other dating apps but after speaking with people at WAY he learnt about Chapter 2 and decided to give it a go. He had quite low expectations but thought he would give the app a try in order to find friendship at least.

Shortly after Neel joined he matched with Ceri and the two have now been dating for three months. Ceri was widowed in 2022 after being with her husband Bill for 30 years. She lost her husband very suddenly to a cardiac arrest and so her grief was very strong and her grief journey very intense.

Ceri tried some of the more mainstream dating apps and was left disillusioned as to the dating world. She found Chapter 2 through Google, and found the idea that there was a community that understood what she was going through comforting.

Ceri comments: “There can be some judgement as to when is too soon to start dating again after loss but there is no set time. Everyone’s grief journey is different.”