Happy to Chat Benches
Current Students
Making connection easy
Happy to Chat is a simple yet powerful initiative designed to break down social barriers and combat loneliness. When you sit on a Happy to Chat Bench, you are giving a subtle social nudge to passersby that you are open to a friendly, low-pressure conversations. It removes social anxiety and barriers.
As with the Happy to Chat Benches at TRU, you will see the words
“Sit here if you don’t mind someone stopping to say
hello.”
Why the benches matter?
Loneliness and social isolation can have devastating effects on physical and mental health. People come to TRU from all over the region, country and world, and living in a new place can be isolating. The benches help combat loneliness, provide an inclusive space, and increase connection.
The story behind the benches
The movement was sparked in 2019 by Allison Owen-Jones in Cardiff, Wales. Today the benches can be found worldwide including the UK, Canada, the United States, Australia and Poland. Benches can be found in downtowns, parks and/or other high foot traffic environments, and they are also becoming more prominent in college and university setting as a way to decrease loneliness and build connection.
TRU brought the benches to campus in 2026 and was a pan-campus collaboration. The concept was proposed by Jessica Chardon, Faculty of Nursing; Student Services brought folks together to coordinate the initiative; Peter Robertson, Faculty of Trades and Technology designed and had the 2026 Welding class build the benches; Twyla Exner, Faculty of Arts had students in the 2025-26 VISA 3310: Sculpture/Intermedia course design the images on the benches; and Warren Asuchak, AVP Campus Infrastructure, Sustainability and Ancillary Services helped with finding placement on campus for the benches.
Programming and communications about the Happy to Chat benches is now part of TRU’s Student Life Office.
The people behind the project
Thank you to the following students who designed the themes and the Welding foundations students who built and installed the benches:
Theme designers
Undersea Friends
Maya Cameron
Human and Animal Imprints
Zoe Fulton
Birds in Flight:
Fausto Richard-Guerrero
Kamloops Landscape:
Maya Kearl
Disappearing Apples:
Alyssa Ingram
Floral Beading Pattern:
Kaitlyn Bartlett
Welders
Carter Billingsley
Jamie Brumbaugh
Rylan Brunner
Navin Campbell
Nico Charbonneau-Rahm
Quentin Clark
Lukas Gordon
Dacyan Grzybowski
Jeremy Houle
Riley Hunko
Eva Lester
Brody Malcolm
Geoff Morris
Owen Sigurdsson
Ryan Turner
Oliver Turpin
Auden Wozniak-Schlichter
Karter Hansen
Maki Swaine
