{"id":77756,"date":"2026-03-16T11:02:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T11:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sheffieldwire.co.uk\/?p=77756"},"modified":"2026-03-16T11:33:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T11:33:33","slug":"another-sheffield-location-joins-national-initiative-to-combat-loneliness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sheffieldwire.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/03\/16\/another-sheffield-location-joins-national-initiative-to-combat-loneliness\/","title":{"rendered":"Pull up a chair at the Sheffield event tackling the loneliness epidemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Another Sheffield location has joined a national initiative aiming to bring people together in locations across the UK. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empty Chairs is a community-led campaign working to connect people with others who live and work in their area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport,<\/a> found that 7% of people in England (nearly 4 million people) experienced chronic loneliness in 2023\/4, meaning they felt lonely often or all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has risen from 6% in 2020, which indicates there has not yet been a return to pre-pandemic levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hosts book a small table in a local pub and leave a few chairs empty, open for anyone who wants company to sit down and join them in a no-pressure environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the country, people are hosting their own events, which are catalogued on the Empty Chairs website. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheffield has hosted a number of these events, mainly in Woodseats, but the campaign stretches across the country, and even internationally, with past events in Canada and Belgium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Robbins, 29, pictured above (right), hosted his own event at the Old Grindstone pub in Crookes on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: “Everyone is so separate after Covid and in the online age, that it’s really important to bring people together.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Robbins was inspired to run his own event after benefiting from visiting one elsewhere in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He chose to settle in Sheffield after completing his Master’s degree in Biomedical Science at Sheffield Hallam University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, with his coursemates returning to their homes elsewhere in the country after graduation, Mr Robbins found himself wanting to build up more connections with people in the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He walked 50 minutes across the city to attend an Empty Chairs event from another local host, and enjoyed it so much that he decided to set up his own a bit closer to home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: “I felt so accepted that I had to set one up myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I thought, what have I got to lose.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Robbins advertised the event on Facebook, and successfully hosted a small group meet-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the attendees said: “I thought, I’m in town, I’ll pop over, say hello, have a chat with people, and make some friends.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Events are open to anyone, and usually see a range of ages and genders in attendance, Mr Robbins explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He enjoys the fact that there’s no expectation to perform a certain way at these events, as the website reiterates, there’s no pressure, no agenda, and no expectation to stay longer than you want. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find out more about the Empty Chairs initiative and how to get involved, here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For support with loneliness, see NHS advice here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An event aiming to combat the loneliness epidemic was held in Crookes over the weekend. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":245,"featured_media":77822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPull up a chair at the Sheffield event tackling the loneliness epidemic - Sheffield Wire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sheffieldwire.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/03\/16\/another-sheffield-location-joins-national-initiative-to-combat-loneliness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pull up a chair at the Sheffield event tackling the loneliness epidemic - 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