Anti-loneliness pub movement gains global popularity

VS

Vicky Stark

9 March 2026 | 10:19

Started by a UK man whose friend committed suicide, the movement is spreading rapidly around our lonely planet.

Anti-loneliness pub movement gains global popularity

Pic: Screengrab of Dean Perryman's LinkedIn post

A campaign to combat loneliness is gaining momentum around the globe.
Primedia Digital Content Editor Barbara Friedman says the Empty Chairs meet-up was started in the UK by Dean Perryman.
"His best friend died, and he wanted to find a way to honour that, to remember that, to almost have some outlet for his grief and his guilt. So possibly there wasn't enough that he did around the time when his friend died."
Perryman, whose friend committed suicide, wrote on LinkedIn that the idea is simple: just to leave a few chairs empty in a pub and invite anyone who needs company to join.
Friedman said he posted the meetups on social media, and people started to come. "And now it's created quite a phenomenon in countries like Belgium, Canada, Norway and the United States.
"One woman's husband took his own life, and she's now created her Empty Chairs events, calling it `Andrew's Empty Chairs'."
Someone else commented on social media that at one event, a 79-year-old woman arrived and said she hadn't been out of her flat for so long.
"So, it's not about a certain age or a certain anything. I just think it is a lovely story at a time when I think the world is struggling so much, I just thought I would talk about that," said Friedman.
To listen to the full discussion with Cape Talk's Clarence Ford, use the audio player below:
Get the whole picture 💡

Take a look at the topic timeline for all related articles.

Trending News