Happy to Chat benches invite conversation and community at TRU
New “Happy to Chat” benches at Thompson Rivers University are creating welcoming spaces for conversation, connection and belonging across campus.
The initiative is part of a growing international movement designed to help reduce loneliness and social isolation by creating low-pressure opportunities for people to connect.
Placed in six outdoor gathering spaces across TRU’s Kamloops campus, the benches feature colourful student-designed artwork and the message: “Sit here if you don’t mind someone stopping to say hello.” The designs range from birds in flight and Kamloops landscapes to floral patterns and underwater scenes.
The benches were introduced at TRU through a collaboration involving Student Services, the School of Nursing, the School of Trades and Technology, the Faculty of Arts, Campus Infrastructure, Sustainability and Ancillary Services and students from across campus. The project grew from a shared interest in creating welcoming spaces that encourage conversation, connection and belonging.
Welder Foundation students (standing) with welding instructor Peter Robertson and nursing faculty member Jessica Chardon at the “Happy to Chat” bench outside Old Main during the project launch.
“It is well established that loneliness and social isolation can negatively affect both mental and physical health,” said Jessica Chardon, assistant teaching professor in the School of Nursing.
“Students living away from home for the first time, arriving from other parts of Canada or abroad, or those who face language barriers may be especially vulnerable to feeling isolated and alone.”
Chardon said the benches offer a practical and accessible way to help foster connection and belonging within the university community.
“These benches provide students, staff and the broader TRU community with an opportunity to sit together in nature, engage in positive conversation and build meaningful connections, ultimately helping strengthen community and support overall well-being,” she said.
The project also created opportunities for students to contribute directly to the campus environment through visual arts and trades training.
Students in the 2025/26 Sculpture/Intermedia course designed the artistic themes featured on the benches, while welding students in TRU’s Welder Foundation and Mobile Training Unit programs helped build and install them.
“The design elements help transform the benches from functional objects into welcoming social spaces,” said Twyla Exner, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Communication and Visual Arts.
“Through their designs, students created visually engaging bench backs that encourage curiosity, approachability and interaction.”
Exner said the collaboration between visual arts, trades, nursing and Student Services helped reinforce the project’s broader goal of community care and connection.
For welding students, the project offered an opportunity to apply hands-on skills to something lasting and visible on campus. Each bench also includes the welded initials of the students who built it, creating a lasting connection between the makers and the campus community.
“This has been a great project for the Welder Foundation class, giving students a chance to develop their metal fabricating skills,” said Peter Robertson, welding instructor in the School of Trades and Technology.
“You can sense the pride the students take in their work, especially given that these benches will be installed around campus, existing as a personal legacy to their time in the welding program.”
One of six “Happy to Chat” benches installed across TRU’s Kamloops campus invites students, employees and visitors to stop, connect and start a conversation.
Dacyan Grzybowski, a Welder Foundation student who helped build one of the benches, said the project gave him valuable fabrication experience and an opportunity to contribute something lasting to the campus.
“I’m really happy they are going to be on TRU’s campus for hopefully a long time,” said Grzybowski. “I’ll always be able to come back, check them out and be proud of the work I did here. We got an insight into fabrication work and everything that entails. It was a really good learning experience.”
Fellow Welder Foundation student Jamie Brumbaugh said he hopes the benches encourage people to connect with one another.
“I think we made some pretty sturdy and good benches that will last a long time on campus,” said Brumbaugh. “I’m pretty proud of it. I hope people can sit together, meet and have a chat on a bench.”
Brumbaugh said the project reinforced the importance of precision and strengthened his interest in pursuing fabrication work after graduation.
“You have to be very precise when putting something like that together because if you are not precise, then it’s just going to be wonky and crooked,” he said. “After graduation, I want to do more projects like the benches. I want to work in fabrication and build things.”
One of the benches was also created by students in TRU’s Mobile Training Unit Welder Foundation program delivered in Hope, B.C.
The “Happy to Chat” movement began in 2019 in Cardiff, Wales, and has since expanded to communities, parks and campuses around the world.
To learn more about the initiative and view the full list of student contributors, visit the Happy to Chat Benches webpage.
Thompson Rivers University is leading in sustainability. Learn more about TRU’s contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.