If you feel like finding love is hopeless, help is at hand.

Forget the dating apps, Maidstone matchmaker Linda Cloke says people are beginning to revert to more traditional methods of finding a partner.

The 60-year-old, who believes she was the first to introduce speed dating to the UK, has successfully been pairing singletons since 2001 and currently has 3,500 people on the books at her agency Click Singles.

While I currently have no interest meeting someone to sail into the sunset with, Valentine’s Day week seemed the perfect opportunity to see how I would fare during a sign-up session at Linda’s office in King Street.

After the usual height, age and identity questions, I was prompted to give an honest assessment of my childhood before being quizzed about personal interests, hobbies and hopes for a relationship.

While this is happening it is clear to see the passion Linda had 18 years ago hasn’t waned.

The mum-of-three, who began the business after splitting up with her husband, said: “It just exploded. A solicitor who was a client then said he wanted to meet someone in a more natural environment and that was when I started doing events.

Speed dating was huge in the US and Linda brought a taste of the fast-paced pairing method to Maidstone.

She then worked at building up Click Singles to what it is today; a thriving service that goes much deeper than a simple swipe left or right.

“Everything now is so disposable. Before if your washing machine broke you would pay to get it fixed. Now you just buy a new one and that is exactly the same as partners. It is chuck away stuff.

“If someone wears the wrong thing or says something then they get rid of them and that isn’t just the youngsters, it’s all age groups. People come to me because they don’t want to be a throwaway item.”

Linda then analyses her newly gathered information before attempting to find me the perfect pick from her portfolio. My choice of socks was criticised but I didn’t hold it against her.

This is when she went on to tell me about the top service her company offers.

She said: “Women and men will take 30 seconds to decide whether or not they like the look of someone.But when you sit down and can’t stop laughing you are likely to look beyond that.

“With Tinder and Bumble you could be swiping left on your soulmate or the love of your life.

“I get chills knowing I’ve made so many people happy.”

So, while this hard-hearted reporter may not have found the perfect match, it’s easy to see how other singletons could.

“People have come back full circle and they don’t want to do online dating any more.”

After almost two decades of matchmaking, Linda admitted she still gets a kick out of playing such a pivotal part in two peoples’ lives.