Founder aims to grow anti-loneliness pub project

When Dean Perryman's best friend Rob Clancey took his own life, he wanted to create something positive from an unimaginable loss.

His idea was simple; reserve an empty chair in a pub and invite anyone who needed a conversation to sit down.

Less than 12 months since he started the project to tackle loneliness, the movement has gone global and his aim now is to run an Empty Chairs event in every UK constituency before the first anniversary of his friend's death on 21 November.

"I think everyone has just been really touched by the idea that Rob's death now has a legacy that has been able to grow and has been able to spread kindness in such a powerful way," Perryman, from Hockley, Essex, said.

More than 720,000 people die due to suicide every year across the world, according to figures from the World Health Organisation.

In December, Perryman shared on social media that he had decided every night that month he would go to a pub and sit at a table with empty chairs and create a space anyone could come to for a conversation.

It was not until day four in Benfleet, Essex, that the first person sat down at an Empty Chairs table.

Empty Chairs marked its 1,000th event in July and after meet-ups were already taking place in half of all UK constituencies, Perryman set a new challenge of having gatherings in every UK constituency by 21 November.

He said: "What's happened in these short months I don't think anyone can really understand how it's exploded in the way it has.

"I think the real beauty is that so many other people have just looked at this idea and gone, 'I can do that'. If you look around the world at the minute, everyone thinks that strangers are terrifying and Empty Chairs is just really embracing this idea of community and neighbourhood and it's so lovely to be able to meet people you've never spoken to before and be greeted with such kindness."

Cameron Beddows, 24, said being of part of the project has been life-changing.

He said: "I think part of the reason I wanted to host an event was because I felt alone in myself.

"I've made so many friends through it."

As the first person to ever come along to an Empty Chairs event, Danielle Westlake said it was a leap of faith.

The 23-year-old said: "I saw the post Dean did on TikTok and thought, do you know what, that's such an amazing thing to share experiences and have someone to talk to."

In Canada, Jill McFarland hosts Empty Chairs events to honour the memory of her husband, Andrew, who took his own life six years ago.

She said the best moments were when people arrived and told her they would not normally leave the house.

"The whole idea of Empty Chairs is there's a seat for you waiting.

"The fact that people have seen it and thought, 'I'm going to do that', I think that's the best feeling in the world," she said.

The project has even reached the other side of the world in Australia.

In Perth, Robyn Crowder has hosted events to honour the memory of seven friends she has lost to suicide.

She said: "Sometimes we think our problems are too big for other people, but the fact that there are people all around the world wearing orange shirts or jumpers or T-shirts in pubs and cafes because they actually do care.

"I think that's just beautiful."

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