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This is the Happy Pod from the BBC World Service.

I'm Holly Gibbs and in this edition, the man on a mission to fill empty chairs. The thing that I couldn't wrap my head around was this idea of the empty chair where he would have always sat. So I was like, what can I do to kind of have an impact on that? And I was like, well, I'm not good at many things, but I'm okay at chatting and I'm good at drinking beer. So let's go to the pub. Let's just see if there's anyone there that wants to chat. We meet Dean, who created the campaign in memory of his best friend.

Also on this podcast, the cutting-edge technology helping one dancer be on stage again.

It was magical and exhilarating. It's a new way of expression to be able to move in a new way.

The 95-year-old swimmer still breaking records.

Plus, why Brazil now has its own version of a classic Scottish tartan.

And this stillness, this calmness, it's so incredibly powerful.

That's where the magic starts.

That's where the cancer recovery starts, the healing physically and emotionally.

Meet Marcus, the Labrador too lazy to be a guide dog, now helping people in his own special way.

We start with a man who is turning his grief into a campaign to help others feel less alone.

Dean Perryman started empty chairs after his friend Rob took his own life.

The concept is simple.

Dean will go to a pub and sit with empty chairs around him,

and people can join him if they would like some company.

This is me on day one of empty chairs,

on what would have been Rob's 30th birthday.

14 incredible people across the country were orange and hosted their own empty chairs.

They showed up in their local pubs to create

space for people in their community who might have needed it. Across the UK, we filled over

100 empty chairs. Day 19 of trying to fill empty chairs in pubs to fight loneliness. I've been showing

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