{"id":49763,"date":"2019-11-05T11:11:20","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T11:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?p=49763"},"modified":"2019-11-05T11:11:20","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T11:11:20","slug":"combating-loneliness-social-isolation-cardiff-chat-benches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2019\/11\/05\/combating-loneliness-social-isolation-cardiff-chat-benches\/","title":{"rendered":"Combating loneliness and isolation in Cardiff with Happy to Chat benches"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cardiff council is setting up official \u2018chat benches\u2019 in local parks to encourage members of the community to talk to each other&nbsp;<br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"878\" height=\"572\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/11\/nologo_5_chatbench2_pj-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-49791\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/11\/nologo_5_chatbench2_pj-1.jpg 878w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/11\/nologo_5_chatbench2_pj-1-300x195.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/11\/nologo_5_chatbench2_pj-1-768x500.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 878px) 100vw, 878px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"878\" height=\"572\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/11\/nologo_5_chatbench2_pj-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-49791\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/11\/nologo_5_chatbench2_pj-1.jpg 878w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/11\/nologo_5_chatbench2_pj-1-300x195.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/11\/nologo_5_chatbench2_pj-1-768x500.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 878px) 100vw, 878px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption>Research shows that loneliness can have a serious impact on our physical and mental health. Photo: SCLT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Cardiff council will install three official \u2018Happy to Chat\u2019 benches around the city this November in a bid to tackle loneliness and spark interaction between members of the community.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Makeshift \u2018Happy to Chat\u2019 signs began popping up on park benches around Cardiff earlier this year thanks to Roath resident Allison Owen-Jones. The signs read \u2018Sit here if you don\u2019t mind someone stopping to say hello\u2019.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI wanted to create something that would break down social barriers and open avenues for people to have a conversation instead of sitting alone and feeling invisible,\u201d she said.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sclt.us\/2019-page-40\/4594648276\" target=\"_blank\">Senior Citizen Liaison Team<\/a> charity (SCLT) took the idea a step further. It set up partnerships with local police forces to introduce chat benches in public spaces and organised volunteers to oversee them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SCLT also launched a social media campaign to raise awareness of the initiative which quickly garnered global attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are now \u2018Happy to Chat\u2019  signs on benches all over the world including Switzerland, Ukraine, Australia and the United States.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ashley Jones, SCLT volunteer and detective sergeant with the Avon and Somerset Police, believes the popularity of the initiative is due to its simplicity. He said the concept is transferable, cheap and anyone can do it.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Loneliness is recognised as a significant public health challenge in Wales. A new <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.olderpeoplewales.com\/en\/reviews\/sotn.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\">report<\/a> by the Older People\u2019s Commissioner for Wales revealed that 65% of people aged 60-74 often feel lonely while 11% of all older people feel lonely all the time.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the report, Wales was in danger of falling behind other parts of the UK in tackling the issue. However, the Welsh government is now working on a strategy for loneliness and isolation which is due to be published in early 2020.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The benches, which are currently being prepared for painting and stencilling, will be located in Roath Pleasure Gardens, Hailey Park and Bute Park. <br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cardiff council is setting up official \u2018chat benches\u2019 in local parks to encourage members of the community to talk to each other <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":331,"featured_media":49781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[6788,6789,6790,6791,3785,6792,6793],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-49763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-no-logo","tag-cardiffcouncil","tag-chatbench","tag-chatbenchinitiative","tag-happytochatbenches","tag-loneliness","tag-seniorliaisonteamcharity","tag-socialisolation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Council to introduce three official &#039;Happy to Chat&#039; benches in Cardiff<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cardiff Council is installing three 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