Romance is alive and well, thanks to an Ellon influencer’s quest to save it with a singles walk in Stonehaven.
Anna Gill, a lover of romantic comedies, organized the walk along the coast in Stonehaven to try and help singles meet each other.
Anna and her husband Matthew run the Aberdeenshire Walks Instagram and have more than 30, 000 followers.
She was shocked by the demand for tickets, which were free but limited to 100.
The challenge was ensuring there was a range of ages and genders on the walk, with dozens left on a waiting list.
The inspiration from the event came from her own ideals about romance. The 27-year-old said she would have loved to have met Matthew at an event like this.
She said: “Me and my husband, we met on Tinder almost ten years ago. We didn’t tell people for years and years, we said we met through a friend and it’s worked out great for us.
“I would have loved to say we met on a singles walk, I just think there’s something fun and unique about that as well, it’s a good story that you met the love of your life on a walk.
“That was in my mind, that was something I would have loved to be able to say that’s how we met.”
Stonehaven singles walk inspired by fatigue with dating apps
The crowd of lonely hearts set off from Stonehaven beach, walking for nearly two hours along the dramatic coast.
Anna also runs a blog called Aberdeenshire Walks, chronicling the hikes she and her husband do locally.
The Stonehaven singles walk combined her love of Aberdeenshire and romance.
She said: “As soon as you step out into Aberdeenshire, you’ve got the variety form mountains, to the sea, to forests. There’s so many beautiful places all around, so it was really nice to be able to promote Aberdeenshire.”
“I think everyone there was just fed up with dating apps. People are wanting to meet people in a way that’s authentic, real-life and natural.”
With the success of this first event, Anna said she hopes to plan another walk in the autumn.
As she said in her video, four couples arranged a second date after the walk.
While she has not kept in touch with them, she hopes at least one pair are still going steady.
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