大象传媒

Detective Sargent Ashley Jones, a police officer in the UK has set up a scheme to try to reduce loneliness. He came up with the idea of 鈥淗appy to Chat鈥� seats, with signs letting people know that anyone sitting there was happy to talk. The idea is now going global from Switzerland to Canada. He first thought of the idea after meeting an elderly woman called Sylvia during his work, who had been defrauded of money by a con artist over the phone.

(Photo: Detective sergeant Ashley Jones sat on a "Happy to Chat" bench. Credit: Ashley Jones)