News

Norfolk’s Chatty Chairs have been continuing their progress around the county over the last few months. They have been looked at, talked about and sat in by the humble and prominent alike and, as hoped, allowed new friendships and connections to be forged.

Norfolk’s Chatty Chairs in Norwich

For example, the chairs attended a community lunch held by Bridges Plus in Norwich. It was great to meet so many people attending the lunch and to hear about the work that Bridges Plus undertakes. The topic was about managing mental health and the importance of talking to others. Clive Lewis MP attended the lunch and made use of the chairs to chat to people during the morning.

Norfolk’s Chatty Chairs in South Norfolk

Some of the other places they have visited included Harleston Library, where they took centre stage, allowing people to sit and chat whilst enjoying a free tea or coffee or sitting in the quiet to enjoy a good book.

The chairs also spent a few weeks at Craftworks Community Café in Harleston. Craftworks is a new art space that aims to bring people together by offering a range of art workshops to the community. The owner of Craftworks, Jo, is new to the area. Hosting the chairs has helped Jo to get to know local residents and discover what’s happening in the local area.

Morrisons supermarket in Diss held their first Chatty Café. The chairs attended the launch and were a focal point, providing a topic of conversation. They helped to break the ice and encouraged people to start connecting with each other in conversation.

As you can see, the chairs are doing exactly what we hoped they would.

Future plans

One of our volunteer artists, Jodie, is planning to decorate a child’s chair. We plan for this to be located in the nursery at East Coast College in Great Yarmouth.

The chairs feature Benjamin Zephaniah’s poem ‘People Need People’. We were thrilled to receive this response from Benjamin when we shared an image of the chairs with him.

“These are so beautiful. I feel honoured to have my words incorporated in these chairs.”

If you would like to host Norfolk’s Chatty Chairs, or make your own chair, please contact Pam Spicer from Better Together.