Hi Lee. Much of what you wrote seems familiar to me. I'm more in the situation, though, where I'm mostly okay with being alone but I know it's not good for my depression.

I have looked at Meetup groups as a way of trying to find people to spend time with. I have also run into issues with cost and transportation.

You can start your own Meetup group if you want to. (I haven't done it.)

My experience with relationships and depression is that it's usually better to work on making new acquaintances/platonic friends and get that in some kind of order before trying a romantic relationship.

I have also been working the past few months on trying to get a healthy daily routine re-established after two years of really bad depression. The word "routine" gets a bad rap, but I find it helps my depression if I sleep, eat, shower, dress, and do other mundane things at regular times. This includes things like making the bed, washing the dishes, taking out the trash, doing laundry, showering, not wearing my pajamas all day, and checking the mail. I view it as part of a normal life to have these tasks established as a routine.

Yes, the Psych Central website is based in the US, but it has lots of participants from the UK. Welcome.