Everyone's welcome

Empty Chairs is a table in a pub or café, a host in orange and a few empty chairs for anyone who wants company. It only works if people feel comfortable sitting down with strangers.

We don’t have many rules. Just a few things we ask of everyone at the table.

• Be kind. Treat everyone at the table with kindness and respect, whatever their background.
• Leave room for others. The chairs are empty so anyone can join. Make space for new faces and anyone who arrives late, and let quieter people be quiet. Nobody has to talk.
• Don’t ask people to explain themselves. Nobody needs a reason to be there, and nobody has to share anything personal. If someone doesn’t want to talk about something, leave it there.
• Disagree, but don’t argue. Conversations can go anywhere, from football and telly to things that really matter. It’s fine to see things differently. It’s not fine to turn the table into an argument.
• No harassment, discrimination or intimidation. That includes unwanted flirting or romantic approaches. Empty Chairs isn’t a dating service.
• Ask before taking photos. Lots of people come because it’s low-key. Ask before photographing or filming anyone, including your host. If they say no, that’s the end of it.
• Be a good guest. There’s no expectation that you buy anything, but we’re guests in every venue that has us, so please be considerate of the staff and other customers.
• Remember your host is a volunteer. Hosts give their time to make the table easy to find and easy to join. They aren’t counsellors or mental health professionals, and they won’t swap private contact details, give lifts or offer advice. If you’d like to see them again, come along to another table.
• Under 18? You’ll need to come with an adult aged 18 or over. Some pubs have their own rules about under-18s too.

To keep it that way for everyone, some things aren’t okay at Empty Chairs:

• Threats, violence, intimidation, discriminatory abuse or sexual harassment.
• Unwanted touching, persistent romantic approaches, or repeated contact someone hasn’t asked for.
• Pressuring anyone to buy something, donate, lend money, join a business or adopt a belief.
• Being unsafely drunk or high, seriously disrupting the table, or refusing to respect someone’s clear boundaries.

If this happens, your host or the venue staff may ask you to stop, step away or leave. If it’s serious, or keeps happening, our team may decide you can’t come to future tables. We’ll always look at what happened, not who someone is. Decisions are about behaviour and risk, never a diagnosis or someone’s background.

Making friends

Friendships do grow out of Empty Chairs, and that’s lovely. If you’d like to stay in touch with someone, you’re welcome to ask. Swapping contact details is always their choice, though, so please take no for an answer.

Anything you arrange after that is between you. Empty Chairs and our hosts can’t organise, oversee or take responsibility for friendships, meet-ups, or private messages and group chats that people set up between themselves away from our tables. Please use the same common sense you would with anyone you’ve just met.

If something about someone you met at Empty Chairs worries you, you can tell us on our Safeguarding page.

If something doesn’t feel right

Trust your instincts. You don’t have to stay in a conversation that makes you uncomfortable. You can move seats, step away or leave whenever you like.

If something has worried you, you can:

• Tell the host, if you feel comfortable doing so.
• Speak to venue staff, especially if you’d rather not go to the host.
• Make a report to us. Tell us what happened, where and when. You can also use the form on our Safeguarding page, and you can stay anonymous if you’d prefer.

If anyone is in immediate danger, call 999 first.

What happens next

Every concern is read by our Designated Safeguarding Lead, who will decide what happens next. That might mean speaking to the people involved, the host or the venue, or passing it to the police or the local council if someone is at risk. Decisions about whether someone can keep coming to Empty Chairs are made by our team.

Where we can, we’ll let you know what we’ve done, although sometimes there are limits on what we’re able to share.

If you need support right now

Empty Chairs is about connection, not crisis support. Our hosts are volunteers, not counsellors or mental health professionals.

If you need to talk to someone now, Samaritans are open 24 hours a day on 116 123. The call is free, and you don’t have to be in crisis to ring them.

Our safeguarding policy lists other organisations that can help, including Mind, Childline and the National Domestic Abuse Helpline.