Chat Bench for Victoria Gardens
The brainchild of Ash Jones of Chant Bench UK and with the support of Portland Rotary and the Portland Town Council
Chat Bench
The idea of the Chat Bench originated from Ash Jones of the Senior Citizen Liaison Charity, (est. 2009) to provide protective services to the older adult community, to reduce the instances of financial exploitation within the elder community.
It became apparent how lonely and isolated many citizens are and hence the idea of the Chat Bench.
The bench has a plaque which invites passersby to sit there if they wish to chat. This initiative has been very successful in the UK and taken up by many countries.
The charity gave a grant to enable a Chat Bench to be purchased and installed.
The balance of funding was made by Portland Rotary Club and the procurement and installation by Portland Town Council, all with the help of Carrie at Friends of Victoria Gardens
