Sixty men and sixty women might end the pains of singledom in a speed dating for charity event next week.

The Speed Dating event is in aid of the Save the Children?s Tsunami Relief Fund and the Bermuda Society of Arts.

Organisers Amanda Temple and Sarah Hughes said some people might not notch up 20 dates in a lifetime, but now anyone can do it in a single night.

?It?s all thanks to a simple dating game that?s being billed as the cure for chronic singledom,? she said.?Speed dating is fast, fun and rejection-free and next week it?s coming to Bermuda.?

The event is being held at the Bermuda Society of Arts on March 10. Ms Temple said the novel scheme took off in the United Kingdom and the United States about four years ago and has even been featured in an episode of the popular US sitcom Sex and the City. They said: ?The dating process has always been fraught with difficulties.

?The dating ritual has evolved from bringing food to a prospective mate in the Stone Age, to high teas with a chaperone during Victorian times, and through high-octane bad dancing in the twentieth century.

?But now men and women, who lack the time to conduct a gentle courtship, or don?t even know how to meet other singles, can try a new way to meet someone.?

She said welcome to the world of speed-dating, where singles can possibly meet a prospective partner on a ?dating conveyor belt?.

?This allows the daters three minutes to decide if this could possibly be Mister or Misses Right,? said Ms Temple.

?And even if you can?t tell if this connection could be forever, at least you know if you want more than three minutes, not to mention you can see who else out there is single.

?The premise is so simple it?s not hard to see why speed dating is proving so popular in other countries.?

The event will feature between 20 to 60 men and women are brought together at an event and given a yes or no scorecard. ?The men are seated opposite the women and then the dating begins,? she said. ?After three minutes a bell rings and all the men move round one place and begin chatting to the next woman.?

This is a wonderful option for singles who are too reserved, shy, self-deprecating or drunk for traditional dating. It also beats a bad blind date where you have to struggle to fill the long and agonising silences during an endless evening spent with a stranger.

?Now, if it is clear there is no spark, it is over in three minutes and there is no uncomfortable goodbye.?

The process is complete once each man has met each woman, said Ms Temple.

?The speed daters mark on their scorecard with who they would like to see again and hand it in at the end of the night,? she said.

?If there is a match, the organisers will pass on contact details, and leave the rest up to them.?In order to participate in the event individuals must be single and should be aged between 25 to 45.

?This is the first event of its kind in Bermuda,? said Ms Temple, ?And if it is successful, we are planning to hold future events for different age groups.? Part proceeds from this event will be going to Save the Children and the Tsunami relief effort in Asia, she said.

?Save the Children, which has worked in South Asia for decades, estimates that it will spend a total of $230 million over the next five years on its long-term strategy for children who survived the December 26, 2004 earthquake and tsunami in South Asia,? said Ms Temple.

The event will be held at the Bermuda Society of Arts at 6.30 p.m. on Thursday March 10.

Tickets are available from the Bermuda Society of Arts at City Hall, Monday to Saturday between 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and they cost $70.

The event will host an open bar sponsored by Bacardi and Barritt?s, it will also be catered by the Little Venice Group.

There will also be a silent auction, which will run throughout the evening.