Amelia has lived in London all her life. She grew up in Walthamstow, went to university in the city and spent her twenties with a wide, noisy circle of friends who seemed as permanent as the Underground map. Then life rearranged itself the way it does. One friend moved to Bristol for a cheaper flat and a garden. Two others had children within a year of each other and now plan their weekends around nap times. Another took a job in Manchester. Amelia is thirty-one, likes her work, sees her family every Sunday and has a phone full of names. She realised one grey Saturday in October that she could not think of a single person to ask for a walk on Hampstead Heath.
Oliver’s story is different, but it rhymes with hers. He moved down from Leeds eighteen months ago for a job he wanted badly, and he has never regretted it. London has given him a career, a small flat in South London and a commute he can almost tolerate. What it has not given him, yet, is friends. His colleagues are pleasant, but they scatter at six o’clock to every corner of the city and beyond. His weekends are long, and his evenings are quieter than he would like to admit.
Amelia and Oliver have never met, and probably never will. But they stand for hundreds of thousands of grown-ups in this city who would like a few more good friends and are not quite sure where to begin. That is who TruFriend is for, and from today, Friday 23 October, TruFriend is open in London.
What TruFriend is
TruFriend is a platform for friendship only. It is not a dating app, and it is not a place for business networking or selling. It is for grown-ups aged 18 and over who would like to meet people with shared interests and build real friendships through regular meetings in small groups.
London opens today together with New York, joining Dubai, Riyadh, Kuwait City and Cairo, where TruFriend is already open. In every city the idea is the same: help people who share interests and live near each other to find each other, then make it easy for them to meet in person, again and again, until acquaintances become friends.
We built TruFriend because the way most of us made friends when we were younger stops working once school and university are over. Back then we saw the same people every day. Grown-up life rarely gives us that. Work, family and long commutes all get in the way. TruFriend tries to give some of that lost structure back.
Being clear that TruFriend is for friendship only matters to us, and we think it matters to our members too. Nobody joins wondering what the other person is really looking for. Everyone is there for the same reason: to find a few good people to walk with, talk with and share the small news of the week with.
How circles work
Everything on TruFriend starts with circles. A circle is an interest that a group of people share: Coffee and conversation, Walkers and runners, Book lovers, Art and culture, Food explorers and many more. There is also a New in London circle for people who have recently moved here, whether from elsewhere in the United Kingdom or from abroad, and who would like to meet others in the same position.
When you join, you choose the circles that suit you. Tru, our assistant, then learns a little more about what you enjoy, roughly where you live and when you are usually free. In a city the size of London, that last part matters enormously. A friendship between someone in Walthamstow and someone in Richmond is perfectly possible, but meeting every week is far easier with people who live a short journey away. That is why we organise London by area, with groups in Central London, North London, East London, South London and West London,.
Tru then introduces you to a few compatible people nearby, with the reasons you might get along. You might share a love of long Sunday walks, both be new to the same corner of South London, or both be looking for a quiet table and a proper conversation after work on a Wednesday. A conversation only opens when both of you say yes. Nobody can message you out of the blue.
Small group plans in public places
TruFriend is built around small groups rather than one-to-one meetings. Plans bring together three to ten people, which we believe is the right size for friendship. It is small enough that everyone talks and quieter people are noticed, and large enough that a first meeting never feels like an interview.
Every plan happens in a public place. In London, that might be a morning walk on Hampstead Heath, a loop of Regent’s Park, an afternoon in the British Museum or Tate Modern, a wander through Borough Market, or a coffee at a busy café on the South Bank. Plans are set for daytime and early evening, in open places where everyone feels at ease.
The real magic is repetition. A single plan is pleasant. The same small group meeting every week or every month is how friendship actually forms. TruFriend is designed to make it easy to see the same faces again, so that one Saturday walk can become a standing tradition.
What a first plan might look like
Imagine someone like Amelia joining the Walkers and runners circle. In her first week, Tru introduces her to a handful of people in North London and East London who enjoy an early walk and are usually free on Saturday mornings. A few say yes to a conversation, and soon a small plan takes shape: six people, Parliament Hill at nine, a slow loop of the Heath, then tea from the café near the lido before everyone heads off.
Nobody has to be brilliant or charming. The walk gives everyone something to do, the view across the city gives everyone something to talk about, and the tea afterwards gives the conversation room to go a little deeper. At the end, someone suggests doing it again in a fortnight. That suggestion is the real beginning. The first plan is an introduction. The second and third are where friendship starts.
Or imagine Oliver in the Coffee and conversation circle, meeting four people from South London at a café near the river on a Wednesday evening. They talk about work, football, the books they keep meaning to read and the best places for a Sunday breakfast. One of them arrived from abroad two months ago and has a hundred questions. By the end of the evening, Oliver has a reason to look forward to next Wednesday, which is more than he had a month ago.
Safety and respect
Meeting new people should feel comfortable, and we have built TruFriend with that in mind from the start. Every member is a grown-up aged 18 or over. Profile photos must be real photos of the member, and they are reviewed. Plans happen only in public places. A conversation only opens when both people agree to it.
If anyone behaves in a way that makes you uncomfortable, you can report and block them, and we take every report seriously. TruFriend is for friendship only. Anyone who tries to use it for dating, selling or anything else that is not friendship is not welcome.
We also encourage everyone to use the same common sense they would use anywhere: let someone know where you are going, plan your own journey home so you can leave whenever you wish, and never share money or sensitive personal details with someone you have only just met. In an emergency, call 999. Good friendships grow at their own pace.
How to join
TruFriend starts by invitation. We open places gradually in each city so that circles grow at a healthy pace and early members find people to meet rather than an empty app. When you request an invite, we will send you a personal invitation as places open in your area. Members pay nothing to join.
If you already have a friend on TruFriend, they may be able to invite you. That is how a healthy community grows: through trust, one person at a time.
What we hope for London
London has always been a city of meeting places. Its parks, markets, libraries and riverside paths have brought strangers together for centuries. We do not want to replace any of that. We want to help more people find their way into it, especially those who have just arrived, those whose friends have drifted to other cities, and those who simply want a few more good people in their lives.
We imagine a Saturday walking group on the Heath that started as strangers, a Wednesday table on the South Bank that has not missed a week in a year, and a group of newcomers in East London who now help the next arrivals find their feet. That is what friendship looks like here, and it is what we hope TruFriend will help to build.
Amelia’s and Oliver’s stories are common in a city this size. The ending does not have to be. If you would like to meet people who share your interests in London, request an invite and we will send you a personal invitation.
Don’t just read about it
Join a circle of people in London who enjoy the same things. Members already on TruFriend can join from the app or suggest a plan in any chat.
New in LondonA friendship circle for grown-ups (18+) who have recently moved to London: settle in, explore the city and build a social life with others doing the same.
Coffee & conversationA friendship circle for people who enjoy cafés and unhurried conversation in London. Low-pressure first meetings in small groups, close to home.
Walkers & runnersA friendship circle for people who like long walks, early runs and park and riverside paths in London. Find regular company at your own pace.