Ricky Gervais donates After Life-inspired benches to UK councils

19 January 2022, 12:03

By Alice Dear

The actor and comedian has teamed up with Netflix to donate the 25 benches as part of a mental health initiative.

Ricky Gervais, 60, has donated benches inspired by his hit Netflix show After Life to councils across the UK.

The actors has teamed up with Netflix, where all three seasons of After Life can be streamed, for the donation which has been commissioned alongside suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably – or CALM.

As part of the mental health initiative, QR code will feature on the 25 benches which, when scanned, will lead people to online resources and messages of support.

They will also feature an inscription which reads 'Hope is Everything'.

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A large amount of Gervais' show After Life takes place on a bench, where his character, Tony, discusses life and loss with a new friend, Anne, giving the donation an even deeper meaning.

The show, which recently dropped its third and final series, follows the life of grieving Tony who has lost his wife and soulmate to cancer.

Ricky Gervais talks about the third series of Afterlife

In the series, Gervais' character contemplates taking his own life following his tragic loss, but when he decides against it, he sets out to live his life as brutally honest as he can be, having lost the will to care about anything.

The lack of regard for anyone else makes for hilarious scenes, intertwined with emotional and heartbreaking storylines.

As his friends, family and colleagues attempt to guide him through his grief, and make him a better person, Tony appears to start seeing the good in the small things in life, and the people around him.

The third series of the show, which dropped earlier this month, is the final instalment and has been another success with fans.

You can find all the After Life bench locations here:

• Victoria Park, Ashford
• Sydney Gardens, Bath
• Cofton Park, Birmingham
• Parc Ceff Onn, Cardiff
• Victoria Park, Cardiff
• Calton Hill, Edinburgh
• Gyllngdune Gardens, Falmouth
• Glasgow Green, Glasgow
• Stanley Park, Liverpool
• Woolton Walled Gardens, Liverpool
• Highgate Wood, London
• Parliament Hill, London
• Queens Park, London
• Ravenscourt Park, London
• Rookery Gardens & Woodland, London
• York House Gardens, London
• Wythenshawe Park, Manchester
• Blenheim Gardens, Minehead
• Exhibition Park, Newcastle
• Aboretum, Nottingham
• Highfields Park, Nottingham
• Lightwater Country Park, Surrey Heath
• Vivary Park, Taunton

Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 24 hours a day. You can also contact CALM on 0800 58 58 58 from 5pm-midnight 365 days a year.