Two brand new senior-friendly benches are the first of 16 that will appear across the city in the next year as part of Age Friendly Guelph’s new initiative called The Bench Project.
Every facet of the design of the benches — including height, materials and colour — was made with consideration to the needs of the seniors who will using them, said project specialist Manon Germain during a launch event Tuesday at River Run Centre.
The first outdoor bench has been installed just outside the River Run Centre. A second bench intended for indoor use has been built but no decision has been made as to where its permanent home will be, said Germain.
Age Friendly Guelph’s goal is to help make Guelph a great place to live and age well, said Germain, and the benches will do that by encouraging aging Guelphites to get outdoors.
The first two benches were paid for by a grant from the Guelph Community Foundation and a matching grant from the Community Fund for Canada’s 150 by Community Foundations Canada.
With Guelph’s shifting demographics, projects like this are essential to keep Guelph accessible and respectful to everyone in the community, said Jessica Barrie, operations and community engagement officer with Guelph Community Foundation.
“Today, one in four Guelph citizens are older adults. If we look ahead to the year 2030, that number will grow to one in three. The bench project is one way of ensuring seniors of various activity and mobility levels have more of an incentive for going outside and have the comfort of knowing there is an opportunity to rest and enjoy the outdoors,” said Barrie.
The Guelph Community Foundation helps people give back to the community by connecting donors with causes they care about, said Barrie.
She said the first bench in The Bench Project was made possible by a donation from the Kaiser Family Fund, one of the many donor-advised funds overseen by Guelph Community Foundation.
Age Friendly Guelph hopes to see 16 benches installed by June of 2019, paid for by donations and sponsorships from local businesses, community organizations and individuals.
The two bench designs are similar, with the one outside the River Run Centre featuring a centre arm rest. The second bench, which does not yet have a home, has no centre arm rest.
Germain said she is aware through her separate advocacy work with homeless youth that benches with a centre arm rest have been identified by some as being a so-called ‘hostile design’ because it does not allow people to sleep on the benches.
She said Age Friendly Guelph had to balance the needs of seniors, some of whom prefer to have the middle arm rest for comfort and to help them sit down and get up off the bench.
“To be able to respect the concerns that some citizens had we went with this design, but we have two designs — they are interchangeable — so we can put the one without an arm rest outside as well,” said Germain.
The cost to donors for the outdoor benches is $3,000, which includes installation, a plaque and lifetime maintenance from the city of Guelph. Indoor benches can be sponsored at a cost of $2,000.
