"It's a place to laugh and cry"

Tuesday 01 March 2022

Families with benches in Guernsey dedicated to their loved ones have welcomed a national campaign encouraging people to talk about grief which was launched alongside the release of the final series of Ricky Gervais' show 'After Life'.

Series three of the Netflix show is associated with a campaign encouraging people to sit and talk together with the installation of a number of benches across the UK.

The show, written and produced by and starring Mr Gervais, follows the life of his character, Tony after the death of his wife, Lisa.

Overwhelmed by grief and angry at the world, the three series depict his relationships with his family, work colleagues and friends, including Anne, who he meets at the graveyard where Lisa is buried next to Anne's husband. They sit and chat on a bench.

Thanks for your lovely tweets from around the world and for recommending #AfterLife to your friends. You've created quite a global phenomenon. Mostly, thanks for supporting all the people who open up about grief pic.twitter.com/xGyW8tg9DG

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) February 26, 2022

Mr Gervais worked with creative agency Made By Blah to come up with a lasting legacy to the show. Agency directors Oli Cole and Jim Townsend worked with him on the bench campaign which was run in conjunction with UK mental health charity CALM.

Mr Cole told Express that, while none of the After Life benches have been installed outside the UK, they hope the message will spread further.

With hundreds of benches positioned around Guernsey's coastline dedicated to lost loved ones, Cole said they hope that more people might be inclined to take the time to sit and talk about their feelings, particularly their grief and hopes for the future.

"Instead of doing an ad, we wanted to build a lasting and authentic legacy for After Life," said Mr Cole.

"Our ambition is to get the nation to talk about the theme of hope by creating inviting places where people can connect with others.”

Pictured: The national bench campaign has seen them installed in various locations with the message 'hope is everything'.

Among the numerous benches around the island is one dedicated to Freddie Leigh Bromley. The son of Rik and Nicole Bromley was stillborn in August 2013.

Mrs Bromley said she and her husband had enjoyed watching series three of After Life and thought the national bench campaign was a great idea. She hopes they become as popular as Guernsey's memorial benches.

"We often stop and read them and think about the person described on the plaque. Some are simple, some humorous and some are for only those who know," she said.

"It's lovely that benches are being installed by local councils to help their community talk. When someone dies, it brings comfort that you can mark their life as part of their legacy and for other people to know that they are not alone. 

"We hope Freddie's bench brings comfort and is a place to laugh and cry."

Freddie's bench is within the nature reserve above Bordeaux. Mrs Bromley said they and other members of their family visit it regularly and use it as a place to connect with Freddie, and others. 

Pictured: Rik and Nicole Bromley at their son Freddie's memorial bench with their younger daughter Edie. 

"It happened quite naturally really," said Mrs Bromley, explaining how their bench came about. 

"During my pregnancy, we would go on walks around our home and visited this spot many times and we would look out across Herm, Sark and beyond, and find it a calming place to be.

"One of the last few photographs of me and Freddie's bump was taken whilst visiting this spot, which grew in significance once he had died. The actual bench we had initially wanted had just been taken so we were a little sad at first but we managed to have the bench next door with the same view." 

Although the Bromley family have moved house since the birth of Freddie's younger sister, Edie, the bench at the nature reserve above Bordeaux still holds significance for them. 

"Now we have moved house and are no longer in the same parish, we can't visit it so easily and have to make special trips to the bench. We would like to visit more but we always make sure we visit on or around his birthday and at Christmas.

"One of Freddie's grandparents lived very close by and would often walk past it and lay flowers there on special occasions. It was nice to visit and see someone had taken the time to leave flowers for him.

"The plaques we had added honour all family members, except Edie, as she wasn't born when we arranged them.

"On his first birthday/angelversary, we held a memorial for him at the nature reserve where his bench is. We had kept the funeral to just close family and a few friends so it was nice to finally celebrate him.

"Children were invited and we had live music and singing and everyone tied little tags around a tree near the bench. We have some wonderful photos from the day and have since shown our daughter them.

"Edie loves the fact there are swings nearby as this makes the bench trips more exciting for her. We hope that, as she grows older, her understanding of the bench and the area we chose will grow too and she might start her own traditions in his memory."

In case you missed it We worked with @NetflixUK, @rickygervais and the team behind #AfterLife to stick 25 benches around the UK - all inscribed with that crucial line from the show: “Hope is everything”. To help people talk about what’s on their mind.https://t.co/aY0lnJYYR2 pic.twitter.com/3XZi0tAYE2

— CALM (@theCALMzone) February 19, 2022

Like individual family traditions around memorial benches in Guernsey, there are also new benches being installed across the island encouraging people to talk to promote good mental health through conversation.

The 'talking benches' are at Petit Bot, St. Martin's village and Market Square. They were the idea of three mums who lost their sons to suicide. 

When the third was installed in town last month, Aileen Morgan, Sarah Bamford and Colette Quertier told Express they would like even more 'talking benches' erected across the island to encourage people to talk and share their thoughts and challenges. 

The charity Go has painted each of the benches bright orange to make them clearly visible and they carry a plaque which reads: ‘Please Talk’.

Pictured: Guernsey's third talking bench was installed in town last month, promoting good mental health through conversation.

Mr Cole and Mr Townsend said the overriding aim of the project was to create a lasting legacy to the show which they believe they have done with the benches. 

Speaking to PR Week, they said this also included the aim of encouraging people to talk. 

"Creatively, the hardest challenge was to come up with an idea that tied into the sensitivities of the show and made sense. To make something really worthwhile that’s authentic and, like the show does, can potentially help people. The challenge was to achieve all that and also create something that left a legacy and lives on," said the pair.

"So far the campaign has exploded in national and regional press and on social media and Ricky Gervais was interviewed on the One Show promoting the 'Benches of Hope' and the amazing work that CALM is doing.

"The ultimate success would be if they were able to help someone if they’re struggling. CALM has the help, advice and information for people who are struggling."

Pictured top: Guernsey's coastline with (inset) Ricky Gervais and the dog Anti, who starred together in After Life.