Life is far better with two. That was the thought that inspired a 70-year-old serial entrepreneur to set up a dating agency for the over-50s.

And Jill Barnes (pictured) should know more than most about how getting older can be a lonely business, since she is already the boss of the 40 + Recruitment Agency, Bicester, and was widowed a year ago.

She said: “Where can they go to meet people? There are so many lonely oldies out there that I decided to put my toe in the water and start the Golden Oldies agency to help.

“Obviously, I want to cover expenses but money is not the criteria. I know what loneliness is like and also running 40+ I get to know the difficulty individuals have meeting new people.”

She added: “I joined various online dating agencies. This was a disaster. Most of the people lived more than 100 miles away and the thought of meeting them at some remote spot, only to find you had nothing in common, was discouraging.

“Also, because I was over retirement age, I seemed to attract men well over 80. But as I was still working, I wanted someone who was still active and had some ‘get up and go’.”

Now her Golden Oldies Dating Agency operates for people living in Oxfordshire , Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire only.

Members pay £11 for three months and then become entitled to attend various events specially organised to bring them together.

Ms Barnes said: “We have a phone number — which most national agencies do not — and for anyone who is dubious, or lacking courage, I am here to help them in any way possible.”

So far the new venture has attracted no more than a trickle of members, but Ms Barnes said that she was ‘still experimenting’ and was encouraged by the amount of interest people were showing — and by their constructive criticism. For instance, many do not like the name, which she might change as a result.

She added that a problem for pensioners was that families move about more often, and live further apart than in previous generations. And she added that it can be lonely when a partner dies.

“There is no longer anyone to cook for, no-one to shop for, no-one at the weekends to go for a walk with. You can become very depressed.”

Ms Barnes has become something of a champion for older people, speaking to the Government and on BBC Radio 4 about their problems during the current recession.

She said: “The employment situation is difficult at the moment. But, as a matter of fact, most of the people we have managed to place in jobs recently have been older people.

“Putting the recruitment and agency ideas together, we shall push both at job fairs, perhaps asking people whether they have a mum or dad who is lonely.

“All I want to do is to get lonely people out there meeting each other, improving their social life and, hopefully for some, forging long-term relationships.”

o Contact: 01869 250505 Web: www.goldenoldiesdating.co.uk