Yes, sarmassophobia is a real word and is the term for people who are scared or fearful of dating.
If you are new to the dating scene or it’s been a long time since you were single, then there’s a good chance you are feeling a little nervous.

I’ve put together some top tips for you to help you feel better:

1) Tell your date if you are little nervous.  If you do it in a friendly way then it will make them feel more comfortable too. They are probably feeling the same way!

2)Go out with the intention of simply having a good evening and making new friends.  If it leads to more then that’s a bonus.

3)What’s the worst that happen?  If you meet up and don’t have a good time then you can always walk away.

4) Before you start dating, make a list of all your good points.  Perhaps you are a good cook, great dancer, good with kids or an experienced traveller.  If you don’t believe you are worth getting to know, then how can you expect anyone else to?  Everyone is unique and has many positive qualities so make sure you know they are.

5) Visualise the date before you go on it.  Run through exactly how you’d like the date to go, with you both having a wonderful time together.   By doing this you’ll be mentally prepared for a great date.

6)Always remember to listen.  I always recommend that you spend 40% of the time talking and 60% just listening.  If you show an interest you’ll build rapport as people love being listened to. It helps to have some good questions ready to ask too.

7)Practice makes perfect. Like most things in life, the more dates you go on then the better you’ll get at them.

8)Online dating is a great starting point.   There are millions of single people online and it’s easy to send some emails to ones that interest you.   Once you’ve made a connection then you can speak on the phone. You don’t need to rush into anything but it’s only by facing your fear that you will be able to quickly start to overcome it.

Good luck!

James Preece

Dating Expert for the Singlesolution.com

Earlier this year, we started running “Learn to Play at the Casino” parties.   These are smaller, more intimate parties than the ones we normally run and have proved to be be an amazing success.  Each one has attracted some wonderful guests and we now run them on a monthly basis.

The evening starts in a private area of the Casino where you are given a welcome glass of sparkling wine. Our hosts help you mingle and then food is served.   Once everyone has enough food you are given a voucher for another drink of your choice and then taken to the private gaming tables. You’ll then have a couple of hours of tuition on Poker, Roulette and Blackjack.   You’ll be using pretend chips so don’t worry about losing.   If you lose them you’ll just get handed some more.  If only the real Casino worked like that!  Once the tuition is over you can either return to the bar to chat with the other guests or try your luck for real in the main Casino.
We run these events primarily for our Premium Members and are priced so they get big discounts on them.  Regular members are still very welcome to attend and many often too.

It’s our intention to run more events for Premium Members. These include our upcoming wine tasting and comedy nights.  They are so good it’s worth upgrading so you can come along.   You can even bring a friend at the discounted rate.

Thank you to everyone that came to our Easter Eggstravaganza Singles party at the Slug And Lettuce.  We had over 200 guests who took part.   For this party, we had a fun “decorate the egg” competition and we were were very impressed with the creative entries!  We’ve also had some great feedback as you’ll see below.

“Good night, much better than some events with different companies that i have attended!”

“The success is yours as I think it is great to have a site that actually brings people together to meet. Sat night was my first time to one of these events and I was apprehensive but regardless of whether anything comes of it, I had a really good night out.”

“Like the “find your other half” icebreaker – very amusing!”

We took a few photos that we though you might enjoy.

Kylie Minogue’s has apparently moved Spanish boyfriend Andres Velencoso into her Chelsea home.
The 31-year-old model was thought to be considering making London his full-time home in January after stating he didn’t enjoy long-distance relationships.
A friend has told The Mail On Sunday: “Andres and Kylie are going strong and when Andres is over in London he stays with Kylie. He has pretty much moved in.”
Minogue, 40, has apparently been working on a new album which is said to include songs about her relationship with Velencoso.
An insider said “She has penned a number of tracks, one of which is called ‘He’s The One (For Sure)’,”

Noel Fielding has laughed off suggestions that he and Pixie Geldof are dating.
The Mighty Boosh star was supposedly spotted kissing the 19-year-old on a night out in London last week.
However, Fielding, 35, insisted that they are “just friends”, adding: “It’s just these things are… like fairytales, aren’t they?
“We’re just friends that’s all, but you can’t be friends in this country without someone booking a church and trying to get you married.”
Fielding joked that he is really in a relationship with his Mighty Boosh co-star Julian Barratt.
“We live like one road away from each other, I have just bought a house where on the roof garden you can see into his window so I am gonna get a telescope to make sure he says he’s doing what he’s doing,” he said.

Lindsay Lohan has revealed that she is “taking a brief break” from her romance with Samantha Ronson.
Speaking to E! News, the Mean Girls actress confirmed speculation that the couple have decided to part ways amid rumours that Ronson had been caught cheating.
“We are taking a brief break so I can focus on myself,” said 22 year old Lohan.
It was reported earlier that Lohan had written several messages on her Twitter account accusing her partner of being unfaithful. She is also thought to have been denied entry to a Ronson family party on Friday evening.