The UK’s only dedicated dating app for widows and widowers planning to expand globally after its UK launch in November 2022.
Since its launch in the UK, Chapter 2 has attracted more than 2,000 subscribers and will launch in the USA in June 2023 and in Australia in September 2023.
The app provides a safe space for widows and widowers who are either looking to move on and find happiness once again or simply want to dip their toe back into the world of dating.
Chapter 2 is a phrase extensively used within the widow community and is used to describe friendship, companionship, dating or physical comfort, it means different things to different people.
Chapter 2 founder, Nicky Wake said: “I have been blown away by how well received Chapter 2 was by the widow community. It shows me that there really is a need for a safe space like this for widows and widowers to revisit dating once again on their own terms and within a community of like-minded people.
“Chapter 2 really is a passion project of mine. I myself tried the various mainstream dating apps out there and found it to be like the Wild West so I knew an app like this was needed.”
Wake, who runs the Don’t Panic events management company in Manchester, was widowed after the death of her husband Andy following a life-changing brain injury.
His brain was starved of oxygen after he suffered a heart attack and he tragically died of Covid in 2020, leaving Nicky to raise their young son Finn.
It was because of her own experiences of using online dating apps that she created Chapter 2, a first in the UK widow dating scene.
Wake said: “After some time I was conscious of just how sad and lonely I felt; at 50 I was too young to spend the rest of my life alone and although I would never get over losing Andy or stop loving him I needed to try and move forward, as widows we never move on.
“I started taking the first tentative steps into dating, I tried mainstream dating apps Tinder and Bumble before quickly realising that online dating had changed significantly in the past 20 years! It was a learning experience!
“After a few disastrous dates I realised there had to be a better way. I had been blown away by the support of widow charities and widow Facebook groups. The talk at widow meetups very often turns to dating and the challenges of dating again. And so I decided to launch Chapter 2.”
Chapter 2 is a subscription-based platform. At the sign-up process people are given three options; those looking for friendship and companionship, those who are looking for casual dating or those seeking a serious relationship.
Everyone who signs up ahead of the Australia and USA launch will receive 2 months premium membership free from launch date.
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