Lent Appeal:  support young people through toxic online space

Social media is a great tool for keeping in touch with family and friends, and keeping informed about topical issues and events.

But it also has the potential to damage mental health, with isolation, bullying and access to extreme content including toxic masculinity and negative body image just some of the results.

This Lent, St Andrew's is raising money for The Children's Society, which is campaigning for more support for young people to help with their mental health, through preventative and early support.

Select the issues you're concerned about

If you look towards the back of our church, you'll see on our noticeboard a display with cut-out computer screens and information about the Appeal.

Some of the screens have bright yellow warnings stuck across them - these represent the potential harms facing young people when they look at online content, as selected by you in return for a contribution to our Appeal!

We're suggesting a donation of £5 per "harm" that you wish to draw attention to, for example toxic masculinity or fake news. You may find it difficult to select just one "harm", but there is nothing stopping you from contributing more so you can stick on more warnings!

The Appeal is open until Palm Sunday, so please pop along next time you're in St Andrew's and make a donation.

Useful links:

'Adolescence' reveals reality for UK teenagers

How TikTok affects children's mental health