Authorities in Zurich have voted to set up friendship benches across the city. The locations are designed to combat loneliness among the wider population and provide easier access to mental health services.

Zurich municipal council approves friendship benches

By 69 votes to 49, the local council in the city of Zurich voted in favour of setting up so-called “friendship benches”. The proposal, submitted by the Alternative List (AL), would see new or current benches dotted across the city designated as places where those who are lonely or need a supportive ear can go and talk to someone.

Friendship benches were first created in Zimbabwe, where residents could sit down and have a conversation, typically with an older member of the community. In the United States, benches have been set up in schools with the aim of getting young people to talk things through. Some benches have also been run by Health Promotion Switzerland, but they were criticised by the AL for being both conspicuous and unsupervised.

Zurich friendship benches would be manned by trained social workers

Speaking to Blick, AL representative David Garcia Nuñez said they hoped to create an easy-to-access service for those seeking mental health support and advice in Zurich. He said that the benches would be manned and supervised by people trained in dealing with mental health and loneliness.

However, while the friendship benches were approved by the city's municipal council, Green Liberal Party councillor Andreas Hauri said that they “weren’t exactly enthusiastic” about the idea. The Swiss People’s Party and FDP. The Liberals voted against the benches, arguing that they should promote discussion of mental health through greater social cohesion.