Startup charity tackles loneliness through conversation

On a sunny afternoon in Deloraine’s Pocket Park, Ben Hughes sets up a mat, a recorder and a modest sign inviting people to share their stories. It’s part of The Listening Projects, a grassroots initiative he founded to foster empathy and rebuild social cohesion through the simple, human act of listening.

“What The Listening Projects is really based around [is] a quote by Simon Sinek,” Hughes explains. “‘If you want to learn empathy, expose yourself to diversity.’ That really means go and sit with people who don’t look like you and don’t think like you, and you’ll probably learn that most of us are the same.”

For Hughes, who describes himself as a “one-man band,” the mission is both personal and hard-won. “I’m going to take you right back to 2011. When I was in a bad place and I talked to two men, told them my story, they told me their story, and I thought, ‘oh, there’s something in this’.”

That conversation inspired Hughes to co-found The Men’s Table, a charity now comprising 260 groups of men who gather monthly to share openly about life’s ups and downs. It was a non-clinical space, a key feature, he says, as “men don’t go to the doctor.” From there, the idea grew into something bigger. A desire to bring that listening culture to the whole community.

“It’s about old-fashioned community building,” he says. “Not hiding behind these terrible phones.”

Since its inception, The Listening Projects has attracted interest from local schools, which Hughes sees as a great option for the initiative. “The statistics show that isolation and loneliness is most prevalent in young people,” he says. “Every school I’ve spoken to have gone, ‘oh yeah, this sounds like a great idea’.”

The format is intentionally informal. Hughes simply sits and invites passersby to talk. “I was really interested in when people talk, how they unburden themselves,” he says. “But more so I was interested in the effect when somebody tells a big story, the effect that has on people who listen.”

Yet not everyone is willing to be recorded, and that presents a challenge. “Otherwise the stories just go off into the ether,” he laments. When recorded, the stories are uploaded to a website, where they can be heard by others, perhaps someone alone at home, reassured that they’re not the only one who’s faced hardship. “It’s really about that connection.”

Among the stories shared have been deeply personal and wide-ranging accounts. Childhood literacy struggles, experiences of being trans, and the trauma of a child being attacked by a dog. “Some amazing stories come out and I’d like to encourage people to come and tell more,” Hughes says.

Running a startup charity is no easy task. Funding remains a constant hurdle. “I wish I was rich enough. I could just do this, but I’m not,” he says. Hughes works part-time, including NDIS support, to keep things afloat. But his focus in 2026 is clear. Find a sustainable way to bring The Listening Projects into schools. “How can I create a difference by doing this? But it needs funding.”

His love for Tasmania is evident. He fondly recalls hiking Warners track with his son and learning of its use by Aboriginal communities, a moment that forged a connection to the region’s past. “Tens of thousands of years later I’m doing the same thing they did.”

And on the Pocket Park? “These places are really important for the community. But community doesn’t just happen. People need to come out. You need to do a little bit and make a little bit of an effort to create community.” And in Deloraine, one man is doing just that, one story at a time.