A NEW club for singles in East Lancashire has attracted more than 150 members in its first few months. We met founder the Darwen woman who aims to shake-up life for the county's single men and women.

"I'VE had some awful dates. The worst was probably a blind date with a guy who turned up dressed as a Smurf.”

That was one of the reasons Cat Naughton realised something needed to be done for East Lancashire’s singles.

She added: “For some reason he thought the party we were going to was fancy dress. I was so embarrassed I had to make my excuses and leave!"

Cat has had her fair share of disastrous dates, but she aims to put an end to the trauma of finding a new mate after setting up a singles club.

And so far the 44-year-old mother-of-one, of Darwen, has been overwhelmed by the response to ClubClick, having recruited more than 150 members since February.

By day Cat is a supply teacher and she does not run ClubClick to make any money.

The group organises events and provides opportunities for people to meet and socialise.

"I'd been single for about two-and-a-half years when I decided to do something about it," said Cat who has a 15-year-old daughter Georgina and their cat Beauty.

"Before that I’d been in a relationship for five years and I really missed the companionship. When you have teenage children you end up just being a taxi service at the weekend.

“I was fed up with sitting in on a Saturday night watching the tumbleweed going past. One night I was bored stiff watching telly and that’s when I came up with the idea of getting a club going for single people to meet and share interests.”

Cat organised the club's first event, a party at Sparth House Hotel, Clayton-le-Moors, in March. Since then she has doubled her membership.

"Everybody who attended the first event signed-up as a member and since then I've been like a mad woman asking everybody I’ve spoken to ‘Are you single?’ “We’ve got all sorts of members from people in their 30s to those in their 70s. I’ve got a couple of firemen, nurses, teachers, factory workers, business people, a solicitor. I’ve got retired people, ones who work part-time, absolutely all different walks of life.”

Cat believes the club has struck such a chord with the residents of East Lancashire because there is a gap in the market.

“I did some research and found that 37 per cent of the adult population are single, which is a lot of people,” said Cat.

“Since ClubClick started I’ve been contacted by so many people to say they’re lonely after their wife died, or their husband left them, and that they’re ready to start socialising again.

“And it isn’t just about finding a date, it’s about getting together and making friends.”

The stigma of using the internet and agencies to find love no longer exists, said Cat.

“People used to pull their face at the idea of a singles’ do. Life’s too short to wait around hoping you’ll meet somebody. All the people I’ve come into contact with have been extremely positive about the club.”

Cat is busy organising the club’s next two events. The first is a four-mile walk in Settle, starting outside the Natwest Bank in Settle at 11am on Sunday, September 20.

She is also hosting a party night at Accrington Golf Club on Saturday, October 3.

Cat hopes to run the party nights once a month initially, increasing to every week if the demand is high enough.

“I want it to be somewhere you can go if you're single and want a good time,” said Cat.

“When you’re single it’s hard to go out on your own, especially for women. Men can always go and prop the bar up, but there’s not many women who would walk into a pub on their own.

“I want ClubClick to be so good that people in relationships are jealous that they’re not single!"

Membership to ClubClick is free. For information email Cat at cat@clickeruk.com.