Y Fainc ‘Hapus i Siarad’ / The ‘Happy to Chat’ Bench

Y Fainc ‘Hapus i Siarad’.

Eisteddwch yma os dim ots gyda chi os mae rhywun yn stopio i ddweud ‘Helo’.

Gadawodd Allison Owen-Jones y neges hon ar fainc mewn parc yng Nghaerdydd ger lle’r oedd hi’n byw. Ym mis Mai 2019 roedd hi wedi gweld hen ddyn eiddil yn eistedd ar fainc parc. Roedd hi’n meddwl tybed (fel rydyn ni i gyd wedi gwneud mewn sefyllfaoedd tebyg) a oedd e eisiau cwmni neu gael ei adael ar ei ben ei hun. I ddatrys y cyfyng-gyngor hwn, eisteddodd Allison i lawr gartref yn ddiweddarach ac ysgrifennu ei neges. Fe wnaeth hi ei argraffu, ei lamineiddio ac yna clymu copïau i ychydig o feinciau parc yng Nghaerdydd. Gwnaeth y neges yn glir y byddai unrhyw un sy’n eistedd ar y fainc yn croesawu sgwrs gyda dieithryn.

Er mawr syndod iddi, cyn bo hir y dechreuodd y neges ymddangos ar feinciau ledled y DU a thramor. Nawr, diolch i gais llwyddiannus gan gynghorydd ward Trebanos, Rebeca Phillips, i Gronfa Gymuned Aelodau Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Castell-nedd Port Talbot, mae gan Gymdeithas Camlas Abertawe dair mainc ‘Hapus i Siarad’ o’r fath ar gyfer llwybr tynnu Camlas Abertawe yn Nhrebanos. Rydym ni’n yn ddiolchgar iawn i Rebeca am wneud ei chais ar ran ein cymdeithas. Mae dwy o’r meinciau bellach yn cael eu defnyddio, a bydd y drydedd fainc ‘Hapus i Siarad’ yn cael ei chodi wrth ymyl Loc Isaf Trebanos yn fuan iawn.

Nawr bod y cyfnod clo yng Nghymru yn lleddfu mae’n dda cael y meinciau hyn ar Gamlas Abertawe. Mae croeso mwy fyth i neges Allison Owen-Jones i annog cwmnïaeth a sgwrsio.

The ‘Happy to Chat’ Bench.

Sit here if you don’t mind someone stopping to say ‘Hello’.

Allison Owen-Jones left this message on a bench in a park in Cardiff near where she lived. In May 2019 she had seen a frail old man on a park bench. She wondered (as we all have done in similar situations) whether he wanted company or to be left alone. To solve this dilemma Allison sat down at home later and wrote her message. She printed it, laminated it, and then tied copies to a few park benches in Cardiff. The message made it clear that anyone on the bench would welcome a chat with a stranger.

To her surprise, the message soon began appearing on benches throughout the UK and abroad. Now, thanks to a successful application by the Trebanos ward councillor, Rebeca Phillips, to the Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Members Community Fund, the Swansea Canal Society has three such ‘Happy to Chat’ benches for the Swansea Canal towpath in Trebanos. We are very grateful to Rebeca for making her application on behalf of our society. Two of the benches are now in use, and the third ‘Happy to Chat’ bench will be erected next to Trebanos Lower Lock very soon.

Now that the lockdown in Wales is easing it is good to have these benches on the Swansea Canal. Allison Owen-Jones’ message to encourage companionship and conversation is even more welcome.