Bournemouth, Business, Education, Health & Lifestyle | Posted on May 16th, 2024 | return to news
‘Chatty Benches’ installed at Bournemouth shopping centre
Three ‘Chatty Benches’ are now in place at Castlepoint to encourage people to sit and talk to others and to confront loneliness.
Loneliness is being tackled in Bournemouth.
Castlepoint shopping centre has teamed up with students from Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) to create a series of specially designed benches to encourage conversations, confront loneliness, and comfort those with mental health related conditions.
The three chatty benches have all been individually designed by students on the BA (Hons) Illustration course and are part of a wider initiative from Castlepoint to raise awareness of mental health and funds for Dorset Mind.
David Pickett, centre manager said: “With over nine million people in the UK saying they feel lonely, we hope the chatty benches encourage people to sit down and chat, whether they are looking for a friendly smile and listening ear or willing to offer one.
“As well as being artistically designed by the students at AUB, the benches come with a plaque saying, ‘sit here if you don’t mind someone stopping to say hello’. We were very keen to play our part in supporting Dorset Mind’s goal of creating a community in which talking about mental health becomes acceptable for everyone. We hope the community that we are proud to be part of will embrace the idea – just making the time to say hello can really make a big difference.”
The benches have been designed to be colourful and inviting to encourage the public to take a seat and engage in new conversations.
BA (Hons) Illustration student, Erin Cooper, who designed one of the three chatty benches, said: “I used bright colours in line with Castlepoint’s own branding and were also the colours used in colour therapy to relax and stimulate people.
“As for the actual design, I like drawing happy people. It makes me happy, and I hope it makes others happy too. This project really spoke to me, I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder last year and I’ve found that talking about it has really helped, it’s my coping mechanism. So, I hope that these chatty benches can help others open up too.”
The Chatty Benches initiative is part of a wider campaign that Castlepoint is running in support of Dorset Mind and in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Week. This also includes a ‘Self-Care Saturday’ in partnership with Dorset Mind on Saturday 18 May. This event will be held at Castlepoint to offer shoppers mechanisms to improve and support their mental health and will raise funds for the charity’s vital services.
Shoppers attending the event will have the chance to enter the ‘positive station’ and collect some free goodies, take part in pebble painting with Dorset Mind, and enjoy a free pamper session with beauty and skin care brand, Clarins. Shoppers will also have the opportunity to visit the Citizen’s Advice van and receive advice from local GPs all while enjoying live music from a local guitarist.
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