Have you visited the Chatty Bench near the library and Sainsbury’s in Tadley?
Officially opened in June 2025, the Chatty Bench is a Tadley Men’s Shed project aimed at encouraging communication, understanding and friendship, and combating isolation and loneliness within our community.
Permission was given for the pre-existing bench, on land owned by Sainsbury’s, to be renovated and designated as a Chatty Bench. TMS members enthusiastically stripped, sanded and painted various bench parts, gave it a general clean, and fitted two new yellow slats for added visibility.
Two signs were produced to announce the Chatty Bench to passers-by.
The smaller, yellow sign was designed by TMS members and ordered from a commercial supplier. It was fitted to the bench with a custom 3D-printed surround designed and produced by one of our members.
The larger sign was produced and fitted during Shed sessions with input from a number of members. It consists of a light grey melamine-faced board with PVC lettering and graphics produced on a member’s CNC cutting machine, framed in oiled waney edge pine and fitted to a spare fencing post. It is held upright by a ground screw normally used for footings in light garden buildings, and manually shimmed until vertical.
The opening event was well attended by local dignitaries, and covered by the Basingstoke Gazette and That’s TV Hampshire , with the Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane visiting a few days later.
