Just when people are needing and valuing ways of getting in touch with each other comes the bad news that you are shutting down Guardian Soulmates (Letters, 26 June). That would be saddening at any time, but particularly so in this present climate of semi-lockdown.
Is its organisation that much more trouble or expense than the outcomes are useful? Not so, I am sure, in the view of the majority of users, who can reckon on finding at least potential soulmates among their fellow Guardian readers. And certainly not so in the view of my husband and me, both aged 82, who – thanks to the Guardian – recently celebrated our first wedding anniversary. Please do reconsider your decision.
Ailsa Cregan and Brian Dent
Datchworth, Hertfordshire
• Guardian Soulmates will be sorely missed. I have used it several times since my husband passed away and it gave me a sense of security because generally it was very thorough. I dated a lovely man for a couple of years and sadly it came to an end, but I would not have hesitated to return to the site. I won’t be the only one feeling bereft. You were a class above the rest and, like many others, I hope you will reconsider and manage to reopen.
I expect that the number of lonely people will increase in the next year and they will be desperate for a site of this quality. You gave me hope in my search for a companion and many people will feel the way I do. In the meantime I want to thank you.
Ms L Simon
London
• Soulmates was brilliant when it first appeared in the Observer and the Guardian – a short description and if you fancied him/her you could leave a message. For me at 77, it resulted in 18 months of excitement and fun that I didn’t really expect. And, incredibly, all for free!
Jude McGowan
London
• I’ll never forget an entry highlighted by the Guardian in the Guide years ago (probably pre-internet), where a man had written as his profile: “I always say �?hello’ to cats I pass and get offended when they don’t respond.” Now him I was tempted to break up with my boyfriend for!
Angela Crabtree
Bracknell, Berkshire
