Finding your feet as a single parent with Zoë Desmond from Frolo

When my son, Billy, turned one, my relationship with his dad broke down. It was a really tough time and I was taken aback by how lonely and isolated I felt.

"Weekends were hardest when the loneliness of being a single parent was compounded by seeing happy families in the playground, and feeling that I’d let myself and my son down."

I longed to find people who got it, who were in a similar position and could relate to what I was going through.

I read a lot and discovered that although one in four families are single-parent families, there was no community or app that offered this.

So, I decided to create the solution I needed. I decided to call the app Frolo - a combination of the words ‘friends’ and ‘solo’.

Frolo Community launched in 2019 and has exploded into an app with a thriving community of over 40,000 single parents across the UK and Ireland.

The Frolo Community has become a nurturing, empowering and safe place to connect with like-minded people, where Frolos can make friends, seek advice, as well as share experiences such as virtual meetups, playdates, nights out and even holidays.

My life has become so enriched by the friendships that Billy and I have formed with Frolos and their kids. The way I felt about being a single parent has been completely transformed, and I hear the same from Frolos all the time.

As the community grew from 10,000 to 30,000 and more, we started to get feedback that traditional dating apps were not the most empowering experience for single parents.

As single parents, we often come across the term ‘baggage’ being used to describe kids and often it can feel like having kids might go against us. With this in mind, we decided to create a respectful and empowering dating app experience for single parents where everyone has the same shared importance of family.

Frolo Dating - the world’s first fully user verified single-parent dating app launched across UK and Ireland in July 2022. Already many Frolos have found love with other single parents through Frolo, and we are excited to see many more lovely relationships and blended families form in the future.

"My advice for people navigating a break-up or divorce is to put yourself out there, connect with a Frolo and see where it takes you."

Sadly, the only way to healing is through but each step we take to connect with people like us, to plan a meet-up with someone with kids our age, will take you closer to the life you deserve.

If you are interested in learning more about Frolo, visit our website or download the app from your preferred app store.