As of today, you can find them everywhere in Assen: 113 benches that invite you to talk about suicide. Today the first bench was unveiled for the station in Assen.
The text ‘a good conversation starts with really seeing someone’ is on the gold-coloured plate of the 113 benches that have been in Assen since today. The first seat was unveiled this morning by initiator Anne Gietema and alderman Jan Broekema. “The sign invites you to talk. We think it is important that people come into contact with each other and help each other to be less lonely,” says Gietema.
The benches are part of a campaign by 113 Suicide Prevention. A QR code on the plate points to a website that offers online training to learn how to talk about suicide. More than fifty municipalities are now participating. Assen is the first place in Drenthe with such a record on a bench.
The station square in the Drenthe capital is not the only place where a bench will be placed. “We want to place one in every neighborhood in Assen,” says alderman Jan Broekema. “There are also people in Assen who feel lonely. I think this is a simple, practical way to combat loneliness.”
The unveiling does not happen entirely by chance during the Week against Loneliness. As part of that week, the municipality of Assen is also handing out free coffee at Asser station today. “We talk to people about loneliness, because that’s where it often starts,” Broekema explains. “People need to feel that they are seen and allowed to be there.”