15 Jan Community Builders and Friendly Benches – here for lonely Torbay residents

One of our Friendly Benches, located outside Preston Baptist Church

So often, the simplest of ideas are the best ones – take the ‘friendly benches’ that are now dotted across the Bay.

They are easy to spot with a distinctive decal and an open offer to passers-by to rest awhile and have a chat because, as we all know, it is good to talk.

They have been spreading across the Bay over the last twelve months and they can now be found in nearly all towns and villages. Sometimes, we adopt existing benches, at other times it is an addition to a new installation.

Our Community Builder team has always worked to bring isolated people together helping everyone lead fuller and more fulfilled lives, thereby reducing our dependence on professional services.

But spotting people who are lonely and in danger of becoming isolated is not easy and this is where the friendly bench comes into its own. Someone pausing to sit on one of these benches is potentially inviting someone else to join them for a chat.

Loneliness and isolation are serious issues that affect people of all ages. According to a recent study by the Office for National Statistics, more than one in four adults in the UK reported feeling lonely in the previous seven days.

Studies have shown that loneliness can have negative impacts on our physical and mental health, such as increased risk of depression, anxiety, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and early death.

When we ran the Ageing Well project for more than six years, we proved that reducing loneliness positively affected people’s health, leading to fewer doctor’s appointments and fewer visits to hospital A&E departments.

One of the reasons for setting up the community builder team was to promote health and wellbeing by reducing loneliness and isolation, in the beginning for over 50s, but now for everyone in our communities.

Keep an eye out for benches around Torbay with the Friendly Bench plaques on them, if you fancy a chat!

We have chosen ‘friendly benches’ as one of the ways we can act to combat loneliness and to create opportunities for social connection in public spaces, such as parks, walking routes and leisure paths.

One of the first to be unveiled was nine months ago in memory of Graham Stephenson, a tireless campaigner to tidy up the area around Beacon Cove. Graham led a group of volunteers who worked over several years to improve that section of the South West Coast path, litter picking on a daily basis as well as raising thousands of pounds to pay for more complex works.

How fitting then that a bench that serves as a memorial to him also doubles up as a friendly bench, encouraging people to sit and admire the view and perhaps chat about his work.

You have to wonder how many people have paused a while and connected with others sitting on the bench. That is the beauty of a ‘friendly bench’ they are passive and we may never know how successful they are. But to potentially lift just one person out of loneliness, would be a fabulous outcome.

A park bench, chosen as a ‘friendly bench’, is a simple and visible means to combat loneliness. The designated benches have signs and recognised symbols that say that anyone who sits on them is open to having a conversation with a stranger. The idea is to encourage people who feel lonely or isolated to sit on the bench and chat with someone who might be in a similar situation or just looking for some company.

Although the benches are for all of us to connect with each other the ‘friendly bench sign’ also has information for people in crisis on how to contact Samaritans and other services.

We work closely with the communities across the Bay and partner organisations to choose benches in busier, well-lit places and make it clear that no one is obligated to speak with anyone else.

We would like to hear from anyone in the community who has a memorial bench dedicated to a loved one. Would that person like the idea of lonely people stopping for a chat on ‘their’ bench? If you think they would, please get in touch with your local Community Builder or email [email protected].