Muddy News

Having trouble upgrading your account?

There seems to be some kind of temporary glitch affecting some accounts that means that when you try to upgrade your membership using the online card transaction it is taking you to the homepage rather than the payment page. 

Please accept our apologies if this has affected you; we are looking into it right now and will hopefully get to the bottom of the problem very soon.

In the meantime, the problem can be temporarily solved from your own machine by deleting your cookies.

If you are having trouble with this, please get in touch with us at customercare@muddymatches.co.uk.

Muddy Matches Success Stories

Hooray, hooray...another muddy engagement has just been announced so when better to introduce you to our new Success Stories page.  Click here to take a look.

Shamus and Ali (photographed on our stand at last year's CLA Game Fair) have just got engaged - read all about it on our Success Stories page.

Have you found love online?

We have been contacted by a journalist looking for couples who have successfully found love online to tell their story for a top UK women's magazine. It would be a chance to share your experience and help promote online dating and the trials and tribulations of meeting people in the countryside.  You would need to provide photos, and possibly take part in a photo shoot, but excellent fees are paid.

If you think you'd be interested in taking part or would like to find out more information, please email Rose by clicking here, or call her on 07970 520993.

Additional Sailing Events

Incredibly, our May Bank Holiday Sailing Trip sold out in less than 24 hours and many people were left disappointed.  We are, therefore, delighted to announce two new summer sailing dates so we can get a few more of you out on the water:

• Long Weekend Sailing Trip (Thurs 4th - Sun 7th June 2009) - click here for more information.

• Bank Holiday Sailing Trip (Fri 28th - Mon 31st August 2009) - click here for more information.

 General information

For both events, you will meet Stuart, our professional skipper, at the Ocean Village marina in Southampton before heading off for three days' sailing in the Solent. Depending on the weather and what the group wishes to do, you may also do a Channel crossing.

The yacht will be sailed by Stu and his ‘mate’, but you will be encouraged to take part in all aspects of sailing including helming, winching and tacking. Or, if preferred, you can just sit back and enjoy the ride.

All your food and some alcoholic drinks will be provided on board but there will be a number of opportunities to go ashore for a few drinks after a good day's sailing.

 Who can come?

Anyone. You do not need any sailing experience to come along as you will be given the necessary training over the weekend and Stu our qualified skipper and his ‘mate’ will be on hand to make sure that everyone sails safely and has fun.

Tickets

The cost of the each long weekend is £425, which includes:

- Three nights' accommodation (shared cabin)
- All food on board, plus soft drinks and a limited amount of alcohol
- Professional skipper
- Sail training
- Lifejackets, oil skins and all safety equipment

For more information and tickets, please click here.

Upcoming Irish Events

We are delighted to be returning to Ireland, where we are hosting two separate events on Saturday 9th May 2009.

Guided Walk & Lunch

Come and join us for a guided walk up the beautiful Brandon Hill (1694 feet) in the Blackstairs Mountains, followed by a pub lunch in the small town of Graiguenamanagh, situated at a bend of the River Barrow on the Carlow border, just east of Kilkenny.  Tickets cost £45 (about 50 Euro but please check with your bank) and include the guided walk, lunch and a week's post-event subscription to Muddy Matches.  Click here for more information and to buy your ticket.

Muddy Speed Dating

According to the last census, Borris is one of the top ten bachelor hot-spots in Ireland...so where better to hold our first Irish Muddy Speed Dating event?  Speed dating really isn't as scary as it sounds - it's basically just a drinks party where you get to meet everyone - so why not come and enjoy a few drinks with us whilst chatting to like-minded singles who share your interest in the countryside?  Tickets cost £20 (about 22 Euro but please check with your bank) and include a free drink and a week's subscription to Muddy Matches.  Click here for more information and to buy your ticket.

If you have any questions about either of the events, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, either by calling the office on +44 (0)1933 311500 or emailing us at customercare@muddymatches.co.uk.

Hope to see you there!

WE'RE RECRUITING...

We're looking for someone to join our team at Muddy Matches HQ - if you know anyone who might be suitable please do forward the link to this entry.

CUSTOMER SERVICE ADVISOR/ADMINISTRATOR

 
Muddy Matches (www.muddymatches.co.uk) is a country-focused online dating site and events company operating from the rural village of Podington, Bedfordshire/Northamptonshire.
 
An opportunity has arisen for a friendly, empathetic and well-organised customer service advisor/administrator to join our small but expanding team.

To be successful within this role you will have excellent communication skills, demonstrate a proactive attitude towards work, learn new information quickly and accurately and have previous experience within a customer-facing role.  You must also be PC literate, with good internet skills and a working knowledge of MS Word, Outlook and Excel.

Other essential requirements for this role are excellent spelling/grammar, good problem-solving skills and an eye for detail.  An understanding of the countryside would also be advantageous. 

The successful candidate will receive full training in a friendly and supportive environment.  The position is full time, five days a week, but there could be a certain degree of flexibility regarding your working hours.

The salary is £14,000-16,000 and is dependent on your experience and the number of hours you work.

Please send an up-to-date CV and cover letter to Lucy Reeves at lucy@muddymatches.co.uk. 

Application deadline: 30th April 2009.

Upcoming Pub Grub Nights in Derbyshire and Surrey

April's Pub Grub Nights are being held at the following venues:

• Friday 17th April - The Bear Inn, Alderwasley, Belper, Derbyshire - click here for more information.

• Friday 24th April - The Queens Head, The Street, East Clandon, Surrey - click here for more information. 

TICKETS ARE SELLING FAST SO DON'T LEAVE IT TOO LATE TOO BOOK, OR YOU'LL MISS OUT!

Muddy Matches Countryside Calendar

Lucy has been hard at work updating the Muddy Matches Country Events Calendar, listing lots of country shows, game fairs, farming events, social occasions and sporting events across the UK and Ireland.  Click here to take a look. 

If you think that there is something important missing, get in touch with her by clicking here but - please - no village fetes or garden open days!

See Photos from the Mud Lovers Ball!

The photos from the 2009 Mud Lovers Ball 2009 are up online and available for purchase!  To take a look, please visit www.BeesKneesPhotography.co.uk and select 'Customer Login' where you will see the Muddy Matches gallery.  Alternatively, you can click here for a slide show.  Any money we make from the sale of photos will go directly to farming charity the RABI.

More and more of you have been sending your feedback about the night and we are delighted that so many of you had such a good time.  We are also quite excited by the number of people going out on dates as a result of the evening - good on you all! 

Thanks to the band, who were amazing and kept the floor packed from the moment they started to the very end of the night.

A big thank you also to Ian and Sandra for running 'Strictly Muddy' during the band break and showing us all some new moves...they were also responsible, we think, for a number of new partnerships on the dance floor!

Thanks also to all of the welly companies that helped us with our table decorations – well you can’t have a Mud Lovers ball without wellies can you?!

Aigle - www.aigle.com/uk
Ariat - www.ariat-europe.co.uk
Barbour - www.barbour.com
Brasher - www.brasher.co.uk
Dickies - www.dickiesworkwear.com
Dubarry - www.dubarryboots.com
Dunlop - www.dunlopboots.com
Evercreatures - www.funky-wellington-boots.co.uk
Fred's - www.fredsclothing.co.uk
Gelert - www.gelert.com
Girlie Gardening - www.girliegardening.com
Hoggs - www.hoggs.co.uk
Hunter - www.hunterboots.com
Jileon - www.jileon.com
Joules - www.joulesclothing.com
LeChameau - www.lechameau.co.uk
MuckBoot - www.muckbootco.co.uk
Muddies - www.muddieboots.com
Toggi - www.toggi.com

Some of your feedback from the night:

"What a fantastic Ball.  A huge success – well done.  Sincerely hope there will be others.  What struck me was the buzz in the hangar, and the fact that the dance floor was full as soon as the superb band struck up.  You would not have thought it was a room full of strangers – everyone got on so well!  Great venue, amazing band, good food and brilliant atmosphere.  Not bad for your first Ball.  And, I met someone – seeing him later this week and we wouldn’t have met on the site as we are just a bit off the map, but having met it seems its worth the effort!"

"Katherine, Tricia and I just wanted to say THANKS for a fab weekend - it lived up to.....no, exceeded our expectations!!! Cannot tell you how much we all enjoyed it from start to finish and talking to others there I think that was the view shared by most. Can't wait till the next one!!"

"I just wanted to email and say what a fab time my friends and I had this weekend. We had so much fun and met lots new and interesting people!!  The shoot was a great idea (even though I didn't hit a thing) to break the ice before the ball and the band were fantastic.  Think it's safe to say it was a complete succes and I know my friends and I are looking forward to the next event!"

"Just a quick note to say a big thank you for a wounderful day and an even better night. Alot of fun was had on the toggi table and cant wait for the next one."

"Just wanted to say that the Ball on Saturday night was a brilliant event. My friend Joanna and I enjoyed it so much!  So Congratulations for organising such a successful event.  Hope you enjoyed yourselves too. Could you please keep us informed of any other evening events that you organise."

"I would just like to thank you both for putting on such a good show last night at Sywell. I thought you did an exhaling job. i really enjoyed my self."

"I would just like to thank you two ladies for an excellent weekend that you organised.  I know there is a lot of work in organising such an event but you did it brilliantly and it is very much appreciated we had so much fun!"

"Thank you for a fantastic evening on Saturday nite,good food,good music,far too much too drink,and even more important good company!"

"Dear Muddy matches team - just wanted to thank you all for putting on a fun and interesting party last night,it was great to meet so many diefferent people from all walks of life!"

Top 5 requirements for dating a horse lover?

Do you love horses, or have you dated someone who does?  What do you think are the five most important attributes you should have if you want to date a horse lover?

Horse & Hound are doing a feature on equestrian partners and wanted to know your thoughts on the matter.  They are looking for short, humorous answers/anecdotes from those at the front of the horsey dating game.

Send your aswers to Lucy by clicking here and she will pick the best 5 to get published -  those who send the best entries will also receive a month's free subscription to Muddy Matches.

Deadline: Tuesday 24th March.