South Tyneside Ambassador Saving lives one bench at a time

Wayne explains:

“What I thought was a daft idea has turned into a bit of a movement, starting with that first bench at my spot on the sea front in South Shields, I now have benches all around South Tyneside with a further 11 set to be installed around the North East and even some further afield with Blackpool coming soon and other UK locations in discussion. What blows my mind though is the fact that these benches have saved four lives that I know of, that is just amazing and makes all the hard work worthwhile. We even have a pilot scheme in schools going where the children learn about feelings in an age appropriate manner and they build and paint their own benches.”

WHAT IS THE RED BENCH PROJECT?

The Red Bench Project is quite a simple idea that is very affective. Benches are located at or near suicide hot spots that can be used as a safe place for people to go to sit and think, calm down and get help. Each bench has a plaque with the phone number for The Samaritans as well as a QR code that will take them to the website where they can find the help they need. The benches can also be used as a silent cry for help, as we know that people often struggle to talk to family and friends and by sitting on the red bench you are saying to people that you may be needing help, so we ask people to stop if they see someone sitting alone on the bench and to go and say hello, maybe have a little conversation as that can be enough to break their mood and stop them from taking that next step. That simple act of kindness can show them that they are not alone and that they do matter, that people do care.

David Taylor, the man behind Seaspray Films heard one of Wayne’s radio interviews and hearing the open honest way that he talked about everything, gave David the idea of doing a documentary on Wayne and The Red Bench Project. Fast forward 8 months and here we are about to have the premier charity screening of that documentary The Red Bench Guy” at Cineworld in Boldon on Tuesday 25th March at 4:30pm.

You can view the trailer for yourself at https://www.seasprayfilms.com/redbench/

The premier will also include several short films created to promote several local charities that work with and support The Red Bench Project which will be shown before the documentary. The charities and groups will be handing out flyers to those attending. There will also be an award winning artist performing, with The Wolcott Band frontman Oliver Speck-Smith singing his song for the very first time. The music continues as two songs by local superstars Sam and Liam Fender will also be shown, with Liam’s song “Man Down” as the theme song to The Red Bench Guy documentary.

So if you would like to attend the Charity Red Carpet screening of The Red Bench Guy at Cineworld in Boldon on Tuesday 25th March at 4:30pm you can buy your tickets online at https://ko-fi.com/theredbenchguy/shop/ticket Tickets cost £6 and the money raised will help them to promote it further, host more screenings, and reach those who need it most.

GET INVOLVED

There are also several supporter packages available with various rewards including tickets, your name in the credits or even your company logo on the film and promotional material that will go out with the documentary to name a few. You can buy the packages at https://ko-fi.com/theredbenchguy/shop/supporterpackage or if you would like to find out more information you can email Wayne at [email protected]

With your help, this film will raise awareness about suicide prevention and mental health, expand The Red Bench Project to more communities and encourage people to talk, connect, and support each other, by helping YOU are saving lives!