A Dating Site for Older People Who Haven't Finished With Romance

Just Older Dating is a dating site for older people in the UK: men and women in their fifties, their seventies and every birthday in between, plus a good few in their eighties. Some are widowed, some divorced, some have been happily single for years and fancy a change. Nobody here has to explain why they'd like a bit of company, a reason to put a good shirt on, or someone to argue with over the crossword.

The idea is simple. You make a profile, you look at who lives within reach, and you write to anyone who catches your eye. There's no app to download and no swiping game to learn; it all works in your web browser on a phone, tablet or computer, at whatever hour suits you.

Online dating for older people, minus the nonsense

A lot of online dating was designed for people who think a forty-minute conversation is a long relationship. That isn't how older singles tend to go about it. Most people here would rather read a profile properly, send a message with full sentences in it, and meet for coffee once they've established the other person can spell and isn't secretly married.

So the site is built around the parts that matter. You can search by location, so you see people within a sensible drive before anyone further afield. You can send messages and share photos. If you like a crowd, there's a group chat room; if you'd rather keep things between the two of you, there's private one-to-one chat.

Older singles: who you'll meet here

Members are men and women from their fifties to their eighties and beyond, from all over the UK. There are people who've recently retired and suddenly have time for a social life, people who were married for decades and are working out what dating even looks like now, and people who never married and see no reason to stop looking.

What they tend to share is a fairly clear idea of what they want. For some it's a companion for walks, gardens and the odd weekend away. For others it's romance, plain and simple. Plenty would like a bit of both and are happy to see which way it goes.

If you're in your seventies, our page on dating over 70 is written with you in mind. If you've been online since the days of dial-up and you're quietly proud of it, you'll feel at home among the silver surfers.

For women who've always liked an older man

Some women spend years being told the men their own age are perfectly nice, and still find their eye drifting to the chap ten years further along. If that's you, you're in good company. Older dating works in every direction here: a woman of 55 who likes a man of 68 will find men in their sixties and seventies who are delighted to hear it, and more than happy to prove that experience counts for something.

The same goes the other way round. Men who've always preferred a woman with a few more candles on the cake are just as welcome. Everyone on the site is over fifty, so whatever the gap between you, it's grown-ups choosing grown-ups.

Where older singles meet, and why online helps

Ask around and you'll hear the same list: walking groups, dance classes, choirs, bowls, evening classes, the singles nights at the hotel on the ring road. All of them are good for the soul and some are good for romance. The trouble is you can sing next to someone for a year and only discover in month eleven that the tenor you liked is single.

That's the quiet advantage of dating sites for older people: they take the guesswork out of it. Everyone you see here is single and has said what they're looking for. You can learn a fair bit about someone before you've spent a tank of petrol on them, and when you do meet, you already have something to talk about. Plenty of people use both: the site to find someone, and the walking group or the tea dance as an excellent second date.

Three good messages tell you more about someone than three months of nodding at them across the village hall.

Over 50s dating, from Cornwall to Caithness

Wherever you live in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, the search starts with your own area and works outwards. In a city, a few miles will bring up plenty of people. In the countryside you might widen it and meet halfway, in a market town with a decent café and somewhere to park.

If home is south of the border, there's a page written for over 50s dating in Ireland, with Irish members in mind.

No app to downloadWorks in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer.

Messages and photosWrite as much as you like and share the photos you choose.

Search by locationSee who lives within a sensible drive first.

Chat roomsA friendly group room, plus private one-to-one chat.

Questions people ask before they join

Who is Just Older Dating for?

Anyone single and over fifty, anywhere in the UK. The bulk of members sit somewhere between fifty and eighty, with a lively group beyond that. If you're after companionship, romance or simply someone to have dinner with, you'll find people looking for the same.

Do I need to download an app?

No. The site works in your web browser on a phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer. Log in from whichever is handiest; your messages are waiting wherever you are.

I've never tried online dating. Is it complicated?

Not at all, and dating for older people is a lot gentler online than most expect. If you can send an email and attach a photo, you can do this. Make a profile, search near you, read a few profiles and send a short message to anyone who interests you. That really is all there is to it.

How private is it?

You decide what goes on your profile. Many people use a first name or a nickname, and keep their surname, address and phone number to themselves until they've met someone and feel comfortable sharing them.