An upcoming Channel 4 documentary exploring grief and how to overcome it saw a celebrity vicar try out a unique surfing-based therapy at a wave pool near Bristol.
Good Grief? is a one-off programme fronted by Rev Richard Coles, the recently-retired priest who regularly appears on the likes of QI, Have I Got News For You and Would I Lie To You? and has also popped up on Celebrity Mastermind plus Pointless Celebrities. He also co-presents Saturday Live on BBC Radio 4.
The cleric, who became a broadcaster and author, was a popular contestant on both Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Masterchef – but the personable preacher was sideswiped by the loss of his husband David in 2019. Despite dealing with bereavement in his day job, he found himself unable to cope with being alone.
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“As someone who is surrounded by death in my profession, I thought I would know how to do this. But when it happened to me, I realised that I didn’t,” he reflects in the show.
In the documentary, which airs at 10pm on August 8, Rev Coles tries out unconventional activities which have helped others to overcome grief. These include surfing therapy provided by Resurface UK, a business offering accredited retreats for those looking to overcome trauma.
The company was founded by Josh Dickson, a psychologist and therapist with experience treating drug and alcohol addiction. His team uses surfing to encourage personal growth, connectivity and self esteem alongside talking therapies, meditation and yoga, helping clients to process their feelings and better understand themselves.
As part of the programme, Rev Coles took part in a surfing session with Josh at The Wave, in the village of Easter Compton near Bristol, which left him feeling “uplifted and positive” – despite the idea leaving him “apprehensive” at first.
“This involves lots of things I don’t want to do,” the vicar tells Josh in the show. “I don’t want to get cold, I don’t want to get wet, I don’t want to fall over, I don’t want to look like a walrus dressed in a space hopper – and all of those things are about to happen.”
Josh reassures him that “we need to have that apprehension to get into the zone of what we’re doing,” adding that “when you’re out on the water, focused on this single goal of trying to stand up on the wave, you cannot think of anything else and that is a respite from your grief".
Taking to the water, Rev Coles reflects: “As I’m faced with the foreboding tsunami, I’m reminded that people often refer to grief as oncoming waves we have to master. But that is easier said than done.”
Afterwards, Josh said: “It was a joy to introduce Richard to the therapeutic benefits of flow states in helping the grief process. At Resurface, we help many people with their grieving by helping to remove any blocks to grief and allowing people to arrive at a place of acceptance.”
Channel 4 plans to leave the one-off documentary on their All4 online streaming service indefinitely, as a free resource for anyone trying to overcome the loss of a loved one. Heidi Gomes, the show’s creative director, said: “We need to talk more about grief, how to support friends experiencing it and how to live with it better, as it is something which will affect us all, and in Good Grief? Richard hopes to get the conversation started.”
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