MAKING friends in a new town can be a struggle but a new twist on speed dating could make it easier. Speed-friending, which is currently taking the capital by storm, has been launched in Swindon and the Adver sent reporter Hedi Mehrez along to give it a try.

When I walked into The Royal Oak in Old Town on Wednesday evening, around 16 to 18 people were already there chatting, which made it slightly difficult to get involved at first.

I did not know what to expect and thought about leaving only a few minutes after getting my free drink – but I’d paid £6 to access the event.

Organiser Alice Bennett, 26, gathered everyone around her and spent a few minutes explaining the rules and splitting us into two groups. I was part of group A which meant I had to stay at table nine and wait for people to come talk to me. Waiting for the first person was very stressful.

Four minutes - that is all we had to get to know each other before swapping partners. Depending on who I was talking with, I found this timeframe either too long or definitely too short.

I remember the first few people were fairly open and social which made it easier to come up with good conversation topics. With no surprise, Brexit, Trump and France – Yes, I am French – were the main subjects.

But this was pretty intense. I was mostly repeating myself for the first half of the night– Where are you from? Paris. Why are you in Swindon then? Work. What do you think of Swindon? Nice. And these were only some of the many questions I was asked.

After meeting four different people, Alice announced a 25-minute break. This was the perfect time to either continue a conversation that ended in the middle of a sentence or get another a drink.

I went for a free cupcake, because talking to people makes me feel hungry. Shortly after I found myself talking about gin with a nice lad who recently moved to Swindon.

I loved the idea of meeting people from different places and even different countries. I spent most of the night chatting to a Mexican young man and it was very pleasant to meet other internationals. Who said that Swindon was not multicultural?

Alice rang the bell telling us to return to our tables for the second round. I found two strangers at my table and had to move to the bar. Nothing major.

It was around 8.30pm when I talked to the fifth person of the night - A young woman who has been in Swindon for around six years and wanted to meet new people. I must have talked to another four people before the event officially ended.

Most of the people stayed afterwards to have a last drink, exchange phone numbers or Facebook profiles. I personally stayed until the end of the night, talking to those I felt more comfortable with and I hope to keep in touch with some of them.

Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to meet everyone from group A as we only met people from the other group.

In the last 15-25 minutes of the night, I met a friendly young woman but did not get the opportunity to know her properly. May be next time.

I would say that Speed-Friending is a good way to go out of your comfort zone, while meeting people who share similar interests. It is frightening at first, but it gets easier throughout the night.

I will certainly join other events this year as Swindon 18-30 Professionals group organises a wide range of activities, from board games to BBQ.

Following this first event, Alice told me: “As the first of its kind, I was bit nervous at first, but it seems it was very popular.”

To join the group visit: facebook.com/swindonprofessionals/