Purple Power

Purple Power · Bench Talk

Bench Talk For everyone who ever sat a while

70 miles. A lot of benches.
Sit a while with me.

Benches have always had a special place in my heart. I can’t be on my own with that, surely?

A weathered wooden bench among purple heather at sunset, looking out over Yorkshire fields and farmhouses

The people who sat here before us

Every bench has a story screwed to it.

I love to take photos of the memorial plaques on benches, and to sit a while and think about the people who sat there before me.

A whole life, distilled into a few lines of brass. Who they loved. Where they were happy. What they liked to look at.

Not one of them says what anybody did for a living. They say what made them feel alive.

A starring role

Forrest Gump famously regaled strangers with tales of American history and boxes of chocolates on a park bench in Savannah.

And maybe it’s not until we really think about it that we realise just how much of a starring role these simple seats play in our own lives.

A pale blue bench beside purple and pink asters on a clifftop, looking out to a deep blue sea

Fish and chips at the seaside.

A wooden bench in a churchyard among old gravestones, looking down a green Yorkshire Dales valley

Remembering the people we’ve loved.

A weathered bench on a grassy clifftop overlooking white chalk cliffs and a turquoise sea

Watching your children play.

A wooden bench on a grassy hillside above a patchwork of green North York Moors fields, with a sheep grazing nearby

Or just the warmth of a summer’s day.

Benches are grounded. They’re constant. They stay put while the rest of life rushes by.

Unlike a box of chocolates, we all know what we’re getting with a trusty, reliable bench.

An empty wooden bench on a moorland hillside, a road winding away into the distance under heavy cloud

When the ground moves

For someone going through cancer treatment, a walk and a bench can be too much.

Especially on the bad days. The short walk. Lowering yourself down. Getting back up again.

And unlike a bench, it doesn’t feel like you’re in a solid, constant place at all. It often feels like the ground is moving beneath your feet. You can’t catch your breath. You can’t see the view, or the road ahead.

That’s who I’ll be thinking about on every bench I find.

How Bench Talk works

Find a bench.
Sit a while. Report back.

  1. 01

    I’ll seek them out

    Across my 70 miles I’ll be actively hunting down benches — on clifftops, in churchyards, in parks, on high streets and halfway up hills.

  2. 02

    Sit with me

    I’ll be looking for people to talk to and sit a while with. Strangers, friends, anyone with ten minutes and a story.

  3. 03

    Walk with me

    If you’re joining me for a stretch, we’ll find a bench together — and report back on that day’s bench.

  4. 04

    Read the plaque

    I’ll share the plaques I find, the people I meet and their answer to one question: what makes you feel alive?

The Bench Log

Today’s bench

Every bench I find gets a write-up here. Check back as the miles go by.

Bench No. 1

Coming soonNovember 2026
Where
Somewhere in Yorkshire
Who sat with me
Could be you
The plaque said
—
What makes them feel alive
—

Bench No. 2

Coming soonNovember 2026
Where
Somewhere in Yorkshire
Who sat with me
Could be you
The plaque said
—
What makes them feel alive
—

Bench No. 3

Coming soonNovember 2026
Where
Somewhere in Yorkshire
Who sat with me
Could be you
The plaque said
—
What makes them feel alive
—
Taking in the viewBack on their favourite bench

As you follow along, I’d love you to think about the simple joy a walk and a bench can bring to the everyday.

And please donate generously, so we can get more people back sitting on their favourite bench, taking in the view.

Donate on JustGiving Tell me about your bench Find a bench with me

For Pancreatic Cancer UK · Pancreatic Cancer Action · PLANETS Cancer Charity