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When communities face challenges around mental health, sometimes, the solution is much simpler: creating more spaces where people feel heard. That is the idea at the heart of Friendship Bench. Founded in Zimbabwe in 2006 by Dr. Dixon Chibanda and a group of 14 trusted community grandmothers, Friendship Bench is built on a simple belief: communities already have people who understand them, know their challenges and can offer support when they are given the right skills. Years

From a single wooden bench in Harare to campuses and communities around the world, the Friendship Bench model has transformed how we think about mental health. Dixon Chibanda’s book, The Friendship Bench: How Fourteen Grandmothers Inspired a Mental Health Revolution, has just won the 2025 OWL Award in the First-Year Experience category, recognizing its impact in shaping conversations about wellbeing and community.

Since 2016, the Friendship Bench program has been bringing hope and mental health support to communities across Malawi. What started as a small initiative in two facilities with twelve trained counsellors has now expanded to over 12 districts, reaching hundreds of clients each month.

As the world faces increasing crises, access to mental health care has never been more critical. The 2025 World Mental Health Day theme, “Access to Services – Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies,” echoes the need for practical, community-based solutions. The Friendship Bench model, developed in Zimbabwe, now replicated globally, offers an evidence-based approach that brings hope and healing to people through simple, meaningful conversations led by trained community