Impact
What Empty Chairs has done so far.
Thousands of Empty Chairs. Thousands of opportunities not to sit alone.
Empty Chairs started with one person sitting in a pub, leaving space at the table for anyone who wanted to join.
Since then, that simple idea has been repeated thousands of times by volunteers in communities across the UK and around the world.
Every event is different. But the principle is always the same: someone shows up, wears orange, leaves some chairs empty, and makes it a little easier for somebody else not to be alone.
Our impact so far
2,215+ Events recorded
548 Locations represented
775 Venues used
*Data correct to 19 September 2026.
Beyond the numbers
The impact of Empty Chairs goes beyond the number of people sitting around a table.
Every new host creates another potential point of connection in a community.
Every venue that welcomes an Empty Chairs table becomes somewhere people can recognise as open and welcoming.
And every event that happens regularly makes that opportunity more predictable.
That matters because our ambition is not simply to organise occasional events.
We want Empty Chairs to become part of the fabric of communities.
A familiar option for whenever somebody needs somewhere to go, or a reason to leave the house.
The next Empty Chair
Empty Chairs has travelled far.
But the goal isn’t to make the numbers on this page bigger for the sake of it.
The goal is to make these spaces normal, local and reliable.
So that wherever somebody lives, when they don’t want to be on their own, there is a good chance that somewhere nearby an Empty Chairs host is already sitting at a table.