International Bench Day for 2007 is 8th September, put it in your diary!

International Bench Day occurs on the second Saturday of September each year (it used to be first Thursday, but no-one turned up - I blame the late night shopping in Oxford Street). This year will see the inaugural dedication of the world's first City of Benchist Heritage. This city will hold the title for twelve months, passing on the mantle to its successor in September 2008. The city has yet to be selected from a 'longlist' of 35 candidates.

The governements of the world were, last year, invited to nominate a city (or cities) for consideration. Unfortunately, many countries either didn't respond, protested that the Movement was Euro-centric and by its nature 'colonial' (although the invitation they received was intended to broaden the Movements catchment). Alas, some were unable to locate a city which met the criteria of the invitation, whilst others were excluded on health and safety grounds.

Those that did respond successfully were presented to the governing body of the Benchism Movement who, after much deliberation, drew up a longlist of 35 cities. Again criticism has been levied at the number of UK cities listed but, as the benchman of the committee stated, '... there was no restriction in the number of cities each nation could nominate... the fact the UK presented a lengthy response containing almost every city in the land shows a commitment to succeed in their bid to be the host of International Bench Day...'

The 34 cities on the longlist are;