Haywards Heath gets new friendship bench thanks to The Orchards and councillors

The rainbow coloured seat was donated by The Orchards shopping centre and Haywards Heath town councillors.

Councillor Sandy Ellis approached Nicola Bird from The Orchards team about joining forces to help elderly residents at St Wilfrid’s Court.

They realised that St Wilfrid’s Way is a steep road to walk, especially for those with bags of shopping.

Councillor Ellis said: “I came up with the idea of a friendship bench as its so good to sit and relax and enjoy the outdoors and chat to locals. Nicola kindly donated the bench, which is made from recycled materials such as metal, concrete and plastic and is decorated in rainbow colours to brighten your day. We hope everyone in our community loves this environmentally friendly bench, a great place to meet and make new friends.”

Nicola Bird said: “The Centre Management Team have helped in the past when they have seen someone struggling so I was delighted to work with Sandy to come up with a solution for our elderly residents and we hope the bench will bring people together, a place for resting and where friends can come together and even make new friends. The residents of St Wilfrid’s came up with the slogan and love the bright colours of the bench.”

Councillor Ellis, along with Nicola and councillor Sujan Wickremaratchi put plans and sponsorship in place to get the project going. The Town Council’s grounds team also bolted the bench into place.