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'Chatty bench' installed to encourage conversation

Ellie Colton,Yorkshireand
Lulu Johnston-Knight,Yorkshire, Orchard Square, Sheffield
News imageBBC Two women are sitting on a curved bench with a metal backrest and a bright pink seat. They are turned towards each other and are smiling. The woman sitting on the left has shoulder length dark hair. She is wearing a bright pink t-shirt with the word b:friend on it and black jeans. The other woman has longer light brown hair and is wearing a grey mac over a black and white ankle length dress. They look like they are in the middle of a conversation.BBC
Collette Bunker from b:friend and Shay Murray from the Orchard Square management team worked together to get the bench installed in the shopping centre

A charity that tackles social isolation among older people has unveiled a new bench to encourage conversations between strangers.

The bench, which is bright pink, was designed by charity b:friend and installed in Orchard Square in Sheffield city centre earlier this month.

The charity's CEO Colette Bunker, who came to test the bench herself, said: "As soon as I sat down, somebody came and spoke to me and I thought, 'oh my God, it's working!'

"Loneliness is a condition that we all feel from time to time, and a lot more than we probably like to admit."

News imageA woman is sitting at a small grey coffee table outside a row of shops. She looks straight into the camera. She has short white hair. She is wearing a white t-shirt patterned with red and brown geometric shapes. She is wearing a grey-brown cardigan over the t-shirt. She has a wooden walking stick in her right hand.
The charity b:friend was set up to tackle the isolation felt by some older people, like Estelle, through phone calls and visits from volunteers and group social events

Estelle Drummond, who visited the bench just outside Waterstones on Wednesday, said: "I'm a widow, and I'm a people person.

"Talking to somebody, it helps.

"I live on my own and I try to get out as much as possible, and of course I will talk to the world and his wife, but it's important to communicate with other people.

"When you're on your own it's horrible."

News imageA young woman stands smiling into the camera. Behind her are plate glass windows and a shop doorway. A turquoise planter is behind her left shoulder and contains a small conifer type plant with smaller plants of different colours planted around its base. the young woman has brown curly hair and is wearing glasses with brown frames, a brown t-shirt and a silver pendant.
University of Sheffield graduate, Ruby, said the bench could be a way to help people to open up

B:friend also hope younger generations will get involved.

Ruby, who just graduated from the University of Sheffield and previously worked in Orchard Square, said she thought the bench was "very eye-catching".

"I think the chatty bench is such a good idea, it's really sweet…everyone's really friendly in Sheffield, so I think it's a great idea.

"I used to sit on the benches around there, everyone just had their headphones on, looking at their phone, so hopefully it's a good way to get people to open up."

'Chatty bench' aims to spark Sheffield conversation

Bunker said the charity recruits volunteer befrienders, who are paired up with isolated older people in order to support them. She added that these volunteers are often looking for friendship themselves.

She said the concept could work anywhere, and that the charity is "really grateful to Orchard Square for giving us the opportunity".

She added: "It's all about giving people that permission to be a bit vulnerable, to be a bit open and to have those conversations and to get away from their phones and just be in reality for a little bit."

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