LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Ross-shire Journal comment
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Lottery support vital for cancer charity
With the loss of Deborah James, who lived with cancer for six years, it is not surprising that death is at the front of many people’s minds.
At Maggie’s we have more than 25 years’ experience of supporting people to live with cancer and have become experts in helping people to cope with death – whether that be the prospect of their own or of someone they love.
Recently we hosted a webinar on Grief and Bereavement in the Workplace, supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, where we shared our knowledge to help companies better support their employees and colleagues.
Afterwards, more than 80 per cent of attendees said they felt better able to support work colleagues with grief and bereavement.
I am delighted our expertise, born from a desire to support people living with cancer, can now be used more widely and this couldn’t happen without the continued generosity of players of People’s Postcode Lottery, through Postcode Care Trust, whose support has meant Maggie’s has received £20 million since 2008.
Dame Laura Lee, DBE
Maggie’s Chief Executive
Helping children with image concerns
For a lot of young people body image is a great concern. Going through physical body changes and developments is challenging enough, yet with outside influences such as social media young people can feel even more pressure to look a certain way to fit in.
Every summer, we are confronted by adverts asking if we are “beach body ready”. Here at Childline, we have seen just how much these ads, messages and perceptions can affect the way in which young people view themselves.
Between April 2021 and March 2022, Childline delivered 5085 counselling sessions on the topic of struggling with eating and body image in Scotland and across the rest of the UK – a six per cent increase from 2019/20.
We believe one of the reasons children and young people are feeling low about their appearance is the increasing amount of time they spend on social media, particularly since the pandemic. Some have told Childline’s trained counsellors that they feel insecure and self-conscious about their weight after seeing images of others on social media platforms.
Here at Childline we would like to remind all children that the service’s counsellors are here to support them and that they don’t have to cope alone. They can contact our counsellors on 0800 1111 or online at www.childline.org.uk, where they can visit the ‘my body’ advice page and also speak to other young people who might be feeling the same away via moderated message boards.
Paul Johnson
Childline team manager
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