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"I don't like to think of anyone being lonely"
Jayne Dawson tells a romantic tale for Valentine's Day
Like many of us, there is nothing Lesley Brewer likes more than a good romance.
But whereas a soppy film satisfies the desire for happy endings in most of us, Lesley is a little different.
Her desire to see couple's paired off is so strong that she has become known in the village where she lives as an old-fashioned matchmaker.
She said: "I can't help myself. I am naturally a gregarious, chatty person and whenever I am out one and about part of my mind is always on the lookout for single people who I think would hit it off with other single people I know.
"My heart bleeds for people who are on their own, I don't like to think of anyone being lonely."
And Lesley will work hard to pair off a couple she is convinced were made for one another.
She persuaded one couple, Sarah and John, who were strangers to each other, to come out for a meal with her so she could be there to make sure things went smoothly when they were first introduced.
And her determination paid off because the pair are now an established couple.
Lesley said: "Sarah is my friend and she was depressed after her husband left her. She had tried answering an advert to meet a man but that hadn't worked out.
"I just thought 'I can't be doing with this, I want her to be happy' so I persuaded her and a widower I knew to come out for a meal with me so I could introduce them. I knew they were right for each other and they were."
Although Lesley, of Malton, near York, is more likely to do her matchmaking in the pub or the cafe than on the village green, she is following in a long tradition when she pairs off her friends and acquaintances .
Matchmakers were last seen around the 1930s but they were once key figures in village life, listening to local stories, getting involved in village life and meeting many people. Then, through a mixture of intuition, caring and interest, they were able to introduce single people to their ideal partners.
Lesley,48, thinks she has inherited that intuition: "I introduced my daughter's best friend to someone my daughter was convinced wouldn't be right. She thought they had nothing in common but I could see they had, and I was right. they got on fantastically well."
Lesley has become so well known in her role as old-fashioned busybody, she has now set up officially as a matchmaker.
"I was chatting in the pub with a couple of friends about the fact that several mutual friends had found themselves on their own recently through divorce or bereavement.
"I've always had this instinct for putting people together so I thought I would turn myself into an official matchmaker."
But instead of filling in forms and answering multiple choice questions, her clients simply come and tell her all about themselves over a cup of coffee.
"I have made part of my home into an office and we just go sit in there, often in the evening after they have finished work. I just ask people to tell me about their previous relationships and we can be chatting for two or three hours. It's a bit nerve-wracking for them at first but in the end they usually enjoy it. At the end it feels like we are friends, and then I introduce them to another of my friends.
"The men find it hardest to talk about themselves but once they get going they are often the ones who talk for the longest time. It's just a conversation, really.
"I try to work out what makes them tick, then I use my intuition to match them up with other people I know who are looking for a partner.
"I have always been involved in community life so I know loads of people, though I am now getting clients from all over the Yorkshire area.
"I don't have lists of thousands of people, or events for them to attend but what I do have is the human touch."
Lesley met her own husband Geoff after they were introduced by a mutual friend when she was 15 and he was 18, and they have been an item ever since. They have two children and celebrated their silver wedding last year.
"We make people sick we are so happy together, I want everybody to be like that."
jayne.dawson@ypn.co.uk
• Lesley can be contacted at The Introduction Company on 01653 669430 or e-mail enquires@theintroductioncompany.co.uk
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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