A SHOPPING centre in Bournemouth is launching a new initiative to combat loneliness.

Castlepoint has partnered with mental health charity Dorset Mind to introduce the ‘buddy benches’ to the shopping centre.

It follow’s the success of Castlepoint’s ‘chatty benches’ that were launched during Mental Health Awareness week in May.

The buddy benches aim to encourage conversations and tackle loneliness, supporting Dorset Mind’s goal of creating a community where talking about mental health is acceptable for everyone.

The initiative will launch at Dorset Mind’s stand at BourneFree this weekend with a Pride themed, rainbow buddy bench, created and sponsored by Castlepoint.

Castlepoint and Dorset Mind are encouraging businesses across Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole to sponsor their own buddy bench, to facilitate new conversations.

David Pickett, centre manager of Castlepoint said: “We are proud to continue our sponsorship with Dorset Mind with the launch of Buddy Benches.

"It has been amazing to see shoppers using and enjoying our chatty benches at Castlepoint and we’re excited to see the initiative expand across the BCP area while raising funds for Dorset Mind and their important mission.

"We are looking forward to announcing more community initiatives with Dorset Mind later this year which we will share across our social media channels.”

Linda O’Sullivan, Dorset Mind's CEO, said: “We fell in love with the eye-catching benches and quickly realised that these could encourage meaningful conversation between strangers – that could be their only contact that day, apart from with retail staff at Castlepoint.

"Loneliness is a growing pandemic – for all ages – and has mental health implications, both exasperating symptoms and becoming the cause for poor mental health.

"Every bench will carry a QR code linking to our website, that will help people find local support or make a donation to help us continue our vital work across Dorset.

"We are delighted to partner with Castlepoint on this important initiative and look forward to working with them on future projects.”