Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Social media use in teenagers is strongly correlated to higher anxiety and depression, according to new research, as NHS data shows the number of children being treated by mental health services has surged in recent years.
Academics from Oxford university, who are carrying out the largest global study of teenage mental health, said their initial research had found about 60 per cent of 16- to 18-year-olds spent between two and four hours a day on social media sites.
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“We found a linear relationship between higher rates of anxiety and depression and time spent networking on social media sites”, said John Gallacher, professor of cognitive health, who is leading the work.
“In the most extreme cases, we had young people reporting they were spending up to eight hours a day using these sites.”
The study, which found girls report more mental health issues than boys, said the top five most frequently used social media platforms were Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube.
It also concludes that increasing sleep and exercise alone would greatly improve the mental health of this age group.
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More than 7,000 teenagers participated in the initial research and about 50,000 young people aged 11-18 across the UK will take part in the full study, which will examine their mental health trajectories over a period of 10 years.
The data will create a “unique mental health map” of the adolescent population across the UK, the researchers said.
In the year ending March, there were 1.1mn children in England in contact with NHS-funded services for mental health, learning difficulties and autism, according to official figures published on Thursday. This is more than twice as many as in 2016-17, when the data was first published.
Teenage girls are the most likely to be in treatment, with about a fifth of 16- and 17-year-old girls in contact with NHS services in the year ending March. But rates have also risen rapidly for primary-school children in recent years.
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Almost 7 per cent of girls and 11 per cent of boys aged six to 10 were seen by NHS-funded services in 2023-24, compared with 3 per cent and 6 per cent five years before.
“Mental illness is the world’s leading public health challenge,” said Gallacher. “It has a devastating effect on economies because it affects many, tends to start young, and recur throughout life.”
The “missing piece is the science”, he added. “For young people, the gap between evidence and policy is stark. We need large-scale cohort studies focusing on young persons’ mental health if we are to achieve change.”
To plug the gap, Gallacher said his team have launched the BrainWaves study, led by the University of Oxford, alongside Swansea University and The Day, an online daily news service for young people.
The study’s data will be accessible to scientists globally and the programme will develop lesson plans on topics such as coping with change, sleep, critical thinking and stress.
The initial study found that “agency” — defined as a feeling of control over actions and their consequences — was strongly correlated to mental health. “Both anxiety and depression are high when agency is low, and they decrease when agency is high. Wellbeing and flourishing are also strongly correlated to high agency,” it concluded.
THOUSANDS of households across the UK can now claim hundreds of pounds worth of free cash, household appliances, and help with energy bills under the extended Household Support Fund.
The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed that the scheme will continue to run from April 1, 2024, through to March 31, 2025, offering assistance to those struggling with the Cost of Living.
The extension of this grant offers a helping hand to vulnerable households struggling to pay for necessities like energy, water, and essential household items.
HOW IT WORKS
Each local council receives a portion of the £421million fund, which is then distributed to residents based on need.
Some councils may provide direct cash payments, while others issue vouchers to help cover essentials like energy or food.
For example, Birmingham City Council has announced £200 payments to help residents with winter costs.
Other councils, like Coventry, have offered community supermarket schemes, where households can pay £5 a week and get a basket of food worth up to £25.
However, there are changes to the scheme this time around.
Some councils have introduced monthly caps on funding, meaning once the allocated amount for the month is spent, applications are paused until the following month.
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This is to ensure that everyone has a chance to receive support, but it does mean you should apply as soon as possible.
Martin Lewis explains how to slash your energy bills
WHO’S ELIGIBLE?
The Household Support Fund is designed to help households in financial difficulty, particularly those on low incomes or those who don’t qualify for other forms of government assistance.
If you’re struggling to make ends meet due to rising living costs, you could be eligible for support.
You’ll likely need to prove your financial hardship when applying.
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This can include showing evidence of your income, benefits, or other forms of support you’re currently receiving.
But even if you’re not on benefits, you may still be able to get help if you can demonstrate financial hardship.
Household Support Fund explained
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Sun Savers Editor Lana Clements explains what you need to know about the Household Support Fund.
If you’re battling to afford energy and water bills, food or other essential items and services, the Household Support Fund can act as a vital lifeline.
The financial support is a little-known way for struggling families to get extra help with the cost of living.
Every council in England has been given a share of £421million cash by the government to distribute to local low income households.
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Each local authority chooses how to pass on the support. Some offer vouchers whereas others give direct cash payments.
In many instances, the value of support is worth hundreds of pounds to individual families.
Just as the support varies between councils, so does the criteria for qualifying.
Many councils offer the help to households on selected benefits or they may base help on the level of household income.
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The key is to get in touch with your local authority to see exactly what support is on offer.
And don’t delay, the scheme has been extended until April 2025 but your council may dish out their share of the Household Support Fund before this date.
Once the cash is gone, you may find they cannot provide any extra help so it’s crucial you apply as soon as possible.
HOW TO APPLY
Applications for the Household Support Fund are handled by your local council, and the process can vary depending on where you live.
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Most councils offer online application forms, but if you need help completing an application, you can call your council’s customer service centre for assistance.
To apply, you’ll need to provide details such as your National Insurance number and may need to submit bank statements or benefit evidence.
If you’re applying for a family member or someone else, there’s also an option to upload supporting documents like benefit letters or pay slips to prove eligibility.
Some councils, such as Haringey, are issuing automatic payments to eligible residents, while others require residents to apply directly.
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If you’re unsure of the process in your area, it’s best to check your local council’s website.
SUPPORT AVAILABLE
The support available through the Household Support Fund can vary depending on where you live, but most councils offer help with energy bills, food support, and household essentials.
Single people or couples without children can receive up to £120, while families may be eligible for £160.
Households can also get help with essential items like fridges, cookers, and bedding if there’s an exceptional need, such as a medical condition or a risk to a child’s wellbeing.
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But it’s not just energy and food that the fund can help with.
If you need support with heating repairs, lighting repairs, or even housing costs in an emergency, the Household Support Fund may be able to help, as long as other housing schemes have been exhausted.
To find out what support is available in your area, you can use the government’s local authority checker on the gov.uk website.
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Simply enter your postcode, and you’ll be directed to your council’s website, where you can find more details about the fund.
It’s worth noting that some councils are experiencing high demand for the scheme, so you may face delays in receiving your award.
For instance, vouchers for fuel support are currently taking between 5-10 working days to be issued, while applications for household appliances can take 4-6 weeks.
If you’re struggling and think you could benefit from this scheme, it’s a good idea to apply early, as councils may pause applications once the allocated monthly funds are exhausted.
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So, if you’re finding it tough to make ends meet, don’t miss out on this lifeline.
Apply through your local council today and see what help you can get to ease the burden of rising living costs this winter.
Entitledto’s free calculator determines whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit.
MoneySavingExpert.com and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto’s data.
You can use Policy in Practice’s calculator to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you’ll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can indicate what you might be eligible for.
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
I have something of a confession to make: I really love listening to the kinds of podcasts that, if they were titles in a bookshop, would be found in that most ugly-sounding of sections: “self-help”. I suppose I listen, on and off, to a good half-dozen or so of them — they keep me company when I’m doing chores, they motivate me, and they often give me fresh ways of thinking about my life (and even about some of the subjects I write on).
But, in recent months, I have noticed a slightly troubling trend on these podcasts: many of them seem to be recommending that, in order to, you know, “live your best life”, you should switch off from the news entirely.
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I should make it clear that I do not think we should all be the kind of “news junkies” who keep up with every incremental development of a story as if that were some kind of civic duty. At the risk of sounding like one of the self-help podcasters myself, feverishly following these “BREAKING NEWS” alerts as if they were goals in a football match is often simply an escape from dealing with the more complicated and fraught areas of one’s life.
But I do worry — and not just for the sake of my gainful employment — about what appears to be a broader switching off from what is going on in the world. A report published over the summer by Oxford university’s Reuters Institute found that a record high of 39 per cent of people worldwide say they sometimes or often actively avoid the news, up from 29 per cent in 2017.
In Britain, the decline in engagement over the past decade has been especially staggering — 46 per cent now avoid the news, up from 24 per cent in 2017, while interest has also plummeted: just 38 per cent of Brits say they are “very” or “extremely” interested in the news, down from 70 per cent in 2015. In America, with its news-as-entertainment cable news culture, interest is a little higher, but it has fallen there too: from 67 per cent to 52 per cent over the same period.
Social media platforms like X or TikTok tend to be the scapegoats for all the ills of my industry. But engagement in the news on these sites is also falling: a recent survey by market research firm GWI found 35 per cent of Americans have reduced their social media consumption over the past three months, with almost half citing political discussions as the reason for pulling back, and 30 per cent saying political content “negatively impacts mental and emotional wellbeing”.
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That people should want to protect their mental health by switching off from the news sometimes is totally understandable. (I regard regularly switching off from the internet as a whole as an excellent idea, and undertake self-imposed digital detoxes myself.) And when the news is particularly distressing or frightening, avoiding it might indeed be helpful: a study conducted in the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Netherlands found that news avoidance was associated with higher levels of perceived wellbeing.
But to disconnect from the news entirely is to suppose that someone else has done the work for you; that someone else can tell you what’s true and what’s false, who is right and who is wrong. It is also, in a democracy, to relinquish both the privilege and the responsibility of holding our leaders to account. How are we to ensure our nations are governed effectively, and that the right leaders get into power in the first place, if we know nothing of the candidates on offer, nor of the issues they propose to tackle?
Our fractured, algorithm-driven attention economy has already made it difficult to agree on what is real and true. And while our much-maligned “mainstream media” institutions must certainly do better at pursuing objectivity, turning off from them can surely only make the prospect of common truths dimmer, while distortions in people’s perceptions of reality become more prevalent.
I was struck, recently, by a chart from Gallup, showing Americans’ perceptions of the state of crime at both a local and a national level. According to the FBI, violent crime fell by almost half between 1993 and 2022. While only 17 per cent in Gallup’s 2023 survey said the crime problem in their area was either “very” or “extremely” serious, almost four times as many — a record 63 per cent — said the same of the situation in America as a whole. Similar perception gaps can be seen in the way Americans view the state of their economy.
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Such distortions are all too easily exploited, of course, by people who deal in deliberate untruths, who sell them as facts — sometimes terrifying ones — and who offer simple, but wrong, solutions to them. In our utterly overwhelming world, disengagement from reality might seem like another easy answer. Alas, again, it is almost certainly not the right one.
Plenty of fellow bargain hunters have liked and commented on the post keen to find one of the cat lasers for themselves, with one simply saying: “Need to go shopping”.
Any B&M shoppers looking to snap up one of 10p cat lasers won’t be able to find it online.
It’s not guaranteed you’ll find it in your local branch either, so it might be worth calling your local branch ahead to avoid a wasted trip.
In any case, you should always shop around before buying something like this as you might find the same, or similar, item for less at another retailer.
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You can use online price comparison sites like Price Spy and Trolley to see if a product you have found is the cheapest against others.
You can also use the Google Shopping/Product tab to do a quick scan of the internet.
However, we had a quick look online to see if any other retailers are selling a cat laser for less than 10p and there weren’t any.
If you’re looking to pick up a 10p bargain on your next B&M shop, you should get the retailer’s scanner app.
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It’s free to download on to your smartphone via the Apple App Store or Google Play.
Top products to always buy at B&M
Once downloaded, you can use the camera on your phone to scan barcodes in-store.
It then tells you if a product has been reduced in price, even before a member of staff has changed the label.
The app also offers you a description of the product you are scanning.
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It’s quite common for shoppers to find 10p bargains in their local B&M stores.
SUN Savers Editor Lana Clements explains how to find a cut-price item and bag a bargain…
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Sign up to loyalty schemes of the brands that you regularly shop with.
Big names regularly offer discounts or special lower prices for members, among other perks.
Sales are when you can pick up a real steal.
Retailers usually have periodic promotions that tie into payday at the end of the month or Bank Holiday weekends, so keep a lookout and shop when these deals are on.
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Sign up to mailing lists and you’ll also be first to know of special offers. It can be worth following retailers on social media too.
When buying online, always do a search for money off codes or vouchers that you can use vouchercodes.co.uk and myvouchercodes.co.uk are just two sites that round up promotions by retailer.
Scanner apps are useful to have on your phone. Trolley.co.uk app has a scanner that you can use to compare prices on branded items when out shopping.
Bargain hunters can also use B&M’s scanner in the app to find discounts in-store before staff have marked them out.
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And always check if you can get cashback before paying which in effect means you’ll get some of your money back or a discount on the item.
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Etihad Airways is hoping to take advantage of congestion at Dubai airport to win new business for its Abu Dhabi home base, in the fiercely competitive market for long-haul flights routed through the Gulf.
The airline wants to more than triple passenger numbers to 30mn by 2030, up from 13mn last year, by attracting more people to break their long-haul flights with a stopover in Abu Dhabi.
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Etihad, which is owned by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, mainly competes on long-haul flights with Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines. All four are expanding, though Etihad remains the smallest. Saudi Arabia is also planning to launch an airline next year.
Etihad’s chief executive Antonoaldo Neves told the Financial Times that there was plenty of room and demand for Abu Dhabi to expand its aviation industry.
“From an airline perspective, Dubai is really congested right now. There is not a lot of capacity left in Dubai, and . . . the UAE now has Abu Dhabi to grow,” he said.
Dubai International airport, which is an hour’s drive from Abu Dhabi, handled 87mn passengers in 2023. Executives at its biggest airline Emirates have said it could soon run out of space there. A new airport capable of handling up to 230mn people a year is being built but will not be open for years.
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Since he was appointed in 2022, Neves has steered away from direct competition with Emirates and Qatar Airways on “ultra-long-haul” flights that link cities like New York and Sydney via one stop in the Gulf.
“That’s not my fight . . . other airlines like Emirates do it very well,” he said.
Instead, Etihad has focused on opening up new markets, putting on multiple flights a day to destinations such as Mumbai, Oman and Riyadh that are between four and five hours from Abu Dhabi.
Neves said he was confident that a global shortage of aircraft and spare parts means there is little danger of overexpansion.
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“Impossible, there are no planes,” he said. “The market is so artificially constrained . . . I was at a conference today and a guy said: can you sell me a plane?”
Etihad’s owner ADQ is considering listing the airline via an initial public offering in Abu Dhabi. Neves said there wee “pros and cons to any listing”, but that the airline’s $7bn expansion plan was not reliant on external capital.
“I need to be ready. That’s driven by management. The time of the IPO is driven by the shareholder. Because we don’t need cash,” he said.
Airlines flying into the Middle East have cancelled some flights to Beirut and Tel Aviv in recent weeks as the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah in Lebanon has escalated.
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Neves said the airline, which has suspended flights to Beirut, relied on its own risk assessments and external intelligence when deciding whether it was safe to run flights.
“It is a process which is common in most airlines. But each has a different perception of risk,” he said.
A THIN loop on your 50p could mean it’s worth 280 times its normal value.
The King Charles III 50p features a salmon on one half of the “tails” side, with interconnecting letter Cs on the other half to represent King Charles.
Behind the salmon, a thin loop is etched onto the coin to represent water.
Now, one of these coins has sold for a whopping £142 on eBay.
The sale was completed on October 12, after the listing attracted 12 bids.
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It comes as the Sun exclusively revealed this week that the King Charles III 50p, also known as the Atlantic Salmon, had skyrocketed to top position in the list of the UK’s rarest 50p coins still in circulation.
A Changechecker spokesperson said: “The circulation 2023 Salmon 50p has knocked the legendary Kew Gardens 50p off the top spot, meaning Britain has a new rarest 50p for the first time in 15 years.
“It was announced on October 7, 2024 that just 200,000 2023 Salmon 50ps entered circulation in November 2023.
“Due to it’s incredibly low mintage, just one in 335 people in the UK could have the chance of finding one in their change.
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“When the Kew Gardens 50p was first issued in 2009, collectors didn’t initially realise just how rare it would be, and many people who found one in their change parted with it and later kicked themselves.
“Now, 15 years later, the Kew Gardens coin regularly sells for between £150 to £250 on the secondary market, so it’s no surprise that they’re already selling on the secondary market for up to £200.
“For many, snagging a Salmon coin could be a second chance at coin-collecting glory.
How to spot a 50p worth £50 and mule 20p that sells for £30
“In terms of identifying rare coins, we would urge collectors to check mintage figures as well as keep up to date with our Scarcity Index which is updated quarterly.”
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As well as the £142, another Atlantic Salmon recently sold on eBay for a huge £164.
The coin entered general circulation at the end of 2023 as part of a new series of coins marking the ascension of King Charles to the throne.
It was struck with a salmon to highlight the fish’s declining population.
Other rare 50ps have also been gaining traction online recently, including a Blue Peter 50p which sold for £216.
IF you love surfing but can’t quite make it as far as Hawaii, there is a place in Europe that might be just as good.
Denmark’s fishing village of Klitmøller has been transformed into a prime surf location in the last few years, leading to its nickname “Cold Hawaii”.
The stretch of coast in North Jutland in Denmark gained the moniker thanks to its wind conditions making it a prime surfing location.
There are 31 other surf spots in this part of Denmark, including places like Agger and Hanstholm.
The nickname of Cold Hawaii came from a 1994 windsurfing documentary, the BBC reports.
Located in rural Jutland, Klitmøller hosts several surf competitions throughout the year like the Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup where 32 surfers compete for the cup.
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Its most famous spot is known as the Reef where surfers can test out their skills on more challenging waves.
Beginners can stick to the more sheltered bays that provide more manageable conditions.
And lining the beachfront are surf shops, co-working sites and cafes, and even some saunas to warm up in.
Local Casper Steinfath said that while surfing is a huge part of the area, it still remains relatively quiet.
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He told GQ: “My dad says it reminds him of what California was like back in the 60s and 70s. It still feels untamed.”
Just don’t expect the warmer weather of Hawaii – Denmark reaches around 2-3C in winter, while Hawaii is closer to 24C.
Inside world’s weirdest theme park with vomiting rats welcoming thrillseekers
If you’re a surfer, the best time to visit Cold Hawaii is between September and November, as this is when the best waves are.
Even though surfing is the area’s main draw, there are plenty of other outdoor activities for holidaymakers to try, including kite surfing, windsurfing and stand-up paddleboarding.
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Fishing is another popular activity in the area.
For holidaymakers who prefer to stay on land, there’s also the nearby Thy National Park that’s home to hiking and cycling trails.
What it’s like to explore Cold Hawaii
The Sun’s Jacob Lewis previously visited – here’s what it was like.
My home for the weekend is Niels Juel, a thatched-roofed fish restaurant and B&B with panoramic sea views and a wood-burning hot tub, run by Jesper and Helle Birch.
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Taking full advantage of the waves is Westwind, a surf school and shop staffed by absurdly chiselled, sun-tanned, blonde instructors.
I’m paired up with Kristine. A confident teacher who speaks perfect English, she helps me catch a few waves, while I whine about feeling seasick in the choppy conditions.
After a mouthwatering seafood platter, Jesper, a friendly face with an easy laugh, cracks open the homemade herbal akvavit.
Birch For Homesickness or Hawthorn For Seasickness — I go for an extra measure of the latter.
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The locals were so warm I felt I’d made friends with the entire town.
B&Bs are the most popular form of overnight accommodation in the area, with stays starting from £62 per night, based on two people sharing a room.
Brits can fly to Copenhagen from a number of UK cities such as Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham and London.
Klitmøller located is then a four-hour drive from Copenhagen.
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Denmark is home to plenty of other lesser-known stretches of sand, including Hornbæk, which is located within the Danish Riviera in North Sealand.
The seaside town of Hornbæk is just under an hour away from Copenhagen (Denmark’s capital city), and it is also home to the largest beach on the Danish Riviera.
Hornbæk Beach is a Blue Flag beach with stretches of soft sand.
She wrote: “It’s easy to see why it’s the world’s happiest. The city is home to quaint cobbled streets, winding waterways and cosy independent shops, which make it both easy-going and vibrant.
And it’s the city’s vibrant atmosphere, one where you can’t help but smile, that has earned it the moniker of the “city of smiles”.
Unfortunately, there are some things that just can’t be done on the cheap, like visiting the city’s top attractions.
Den Gamle By is the world’s oldest living museum, making it one of most unique attractions in the Danish city.
I spent around two hours exploring every nook and cranny of the re-constructed buildings, some of which date back to the 1800s.
There’s also ARoS Art Museum, which dominates the Aarhus Skyline thanks to its rainbow walkway that sits on top of the gallery.
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There are plenty of free attractions in the city too, including a stroll along the Salling Rooftop — a network of wooden walkways and green spaces built on top of a department store.
The Cultural Production Center Godsbanen, Aarhus Cathedral and Aarhus Concert Hall are also all free to enter.
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