Baby Boomer singles group plays cupid for 37 couples
MELBOURNE: A grandmother has played cupid for 37 couples and provided community to a man experiencing homelessness through a Facebook group with 3500 Adelaide singles looking for love.
Co-founder Kay Bunting, 52, said she created the group, Single in Adelaide (SA Wide), on a whim one 2010 night alongside two friends.
The Salisbury grandmother of two said it wasn’t until June 2024 that the group exploded, amassing almost 1000 members sitting dormant for 14 years.
To celebrate the milestone, Ms Bunting said she decided to hold the first in-person gathering that same month at the Kent Town Hotel on Rundle St.
“I had 257 people show up and I was gobsmacked,” Ms Bunting said.
Now, Ms Bunting said she hosted fortnightly gatherings at the Kent Town pub, attracting a steady rotation of 30 attendees.
She said the 3500-strong group had “officially” produced 37 couples.
At the group’s meeting last Sunday, divorcee Andrew Baker, 61, told The Advertiser he joined in April 2024 while he was living out of his car.
Mr Baker, a Salisbury East father of two, said he was welcomed into the group while experiencing homelessness from February to November 2024 after he was evicted from his rental share house.
“It was just nice to actually have something to do, rather than sitting in my car in the stinking hot or the pouring rain,” Mr Baker said.
“I haven’t met anybody yet, but I’ve made a lot of friends.”
Asked about the logistics of keeping the group safe and respectful, Ms Bunting, who is a support worker and cares for her 75-year-old mother, said she would spend from 9pm to 3am most nights acting as the group’s “stern” manager.
“I’ll wake up in the morning and I’ll probably spend an hour just looking through (the group).”
She said had presented to local police stations on multiple occasions to seek advice on managing the group and was assisted by fellow admin Zoe, 40, to filter inappropriate behaviour, including unsolicited explicit photos and scammers.
Zoe, a mum of two and aged care worker of Elizabeth North, said she had made a romantic connection with a member of the group four weeks ago and that it was “going really well”.
Meanwhile, group member Cindy Chatters, 46, who has been employed selling The Big Issue magazine since 2010, said she started coming to the Sunday gatherings at the Kent Town Hotel last September to make friends.
“I struggle with meeting people due to social anxiety … so being able to come here, I’m glad I decided to go it because we’re all different and unique, but all accepting at the same time,” Ms Chatters, of Pennington, said.
“It’s not like a hook-up group, it’s more of a gathering of single people who can create friendships,” Scott Ferguson, 55, of Blackwood, added.
“When we were younger, you go out and most of your friends are single so you’re constantly exposed to new people and new social circles.
“Whereas, when we get older, those circles contract – we have regular friends and don’t usually have those new people coming in.
“So, this allows us to create those new connections..”
Lauren, 42, said she preferred the singles group to dating apps, calling them “scary” and “shocking”.
“I used to use the (dating) apps, but I found the majority of the time, it wasn’t a real person I was talking to,” Lauren said.