The Chatty Benches initiative was created to encourage people to get talking face to face, to help reduce loneliness and social isolation. This is particularly important as new research from Anchor highlights that nearly a quarter (23%) of people across the UK frequently feel lonely, rising to a third (33%) amongst people aged 16-34. Over the last winter alone, 37% of the nation admitted to feeling lonely.
Advertisement Advertisement Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Yorkshire Evening Post, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. With 81% of people agreeing it is important that no one in our society is left feeling isolated and three-quarters (76%) believing that interacting with people from different generations is important, Anchor’s Chatty Benches initiative provides a meaningful solution. By sitting on one of the Chatty Benches, adorned with vibrant and colourful signs, a person signals they are open to striking up a conversation with whomever joins them.
With an incredible 700 benches now located across the country from Leeds to Brighton to the Westfield London shopping centre, the initiative has proved hugely popular and provides lots of opportunities for conversations to start and new friendships to blossom. The latest sight, Bolton Abbey , is located in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales and overlooks the banks of the River Wharfe. The estate includes the .
