Christmas and Holiday online resources
- Comedian Sarah Millican @SarahMillican75 hosts #JoinIn – a virtual conversation on Twitter for people feeling lonely on Christmas Day.
- The Royal Voluntary Service’s Virtual Village Hall has a range of live and recorded classes on a range of activities from craft, gardening and baking to music and technology sessions. https://virtualvillagehall.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk
- Nordoff Robins offers online musical resources, choirs and activities aimed at people of all ages and abilities. https://www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk/musical-resources-to-support-at-home/
ME support
- The ME Connect Telephone Helpline is run by the ME Association and provides information and support. Open every day from 10am-12noon, 2-4pm and 7-9pm. Call 0344 576 5326 or visit https://meassociation.org.uk/telephone-helpline/
Children and families
- Over the Wall offers Camp 365 with online activities, classes and events through the year. https://camp365.co.uk Also, free online holiday camps -’ Camp in the Cloud’ – to ill children and their families. The next camp is on 28 January 2023. https://www.otw.org.uk/virtual-camp/
Religious Services Online & Faith Based Resources
- Catholic Mass
https://mass-online.org/daily-holy-mass-live-online/
- Vatican Christmas Midnight Mass
https://www.youtube.com/c/VaticanNews/videos
- Find your local Church of England church service
https://www.achurchnearyou.com/search/?tags=Live_stream
- Sung Eucharist of Christmas night at Westminster Abbey online. Saturday, 24th December 2022, 11.00pm – 12:30am.
- On Christmas Day, at 4pm on the Church of England countdown the top 10 Christmas carols and chat together in the comments. https://www.youtube.com/thechurchofengland
- Synagogue Service Streaming
https://www.reformjudaism.org.uk/covid-19-information/synagogue-service-streaming/
- The Liberal Jewish Synagogue https://www.ljs.org/services-online.html
- Glasgow Reform Synagogue https://www.grs.org.uk
- Secular Buddhist Tradition offers free meditation classes, courses, retreats and resources online. https://sbtonline.org/
- The Buddhist Centre Online offers free online events (donations welcome) and free online resources via the Dharma Toolkit. https://thebuddhistcentre.com/stories/toolkit/
- If you want some space and peace over Christmas and New Year, join the Buddhist Centre Online for ‘The Breath of Change: The Ancient Art of Letting Go and Accepting’, where you can practise the ancient Tibetan art of letting go. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-breath-of-change-the-ancient-art-of-letting-go-and-accepting-tickets-429710053337
- The India Centre offers free online events. https://www.eventbrite.com/o/the-india-center-10750498376
- The Sikh Helpline is a free telephone counselling and email inquiry service, available 24/7. You do not need to be Sikh to access their services. Telephone 0845 644 0704/07999 00 4363. https://www.sikhhelpline.com
- Sikh Your Mind is a mental health helpline, operating in English and Punjabi. https://sikhyourmind.com
Mental health and wellbeing resources
- Samaritans offer a safe place for you to talk any time you like, in your own way – about whatever’s getting to you. Call 116 123 or visit https://www.samaritans.org/
- Healthy Minds offers a virtual wellbeing assistant that will help you find appropriate mental health support by inputting some details. https://www.healthyminds.services/wellbeing-assistant/
- Shout has an anonymous 24/7 text service to help you through any difficulties you may experience this holiday period. Text Shout 85258 https://giveusashout.org/get-help/
- Frazzled Cafe meetings provide a place where people who are feeling frazzled can meet to talk and share their stories. They have virtual meetings, typically lasting 45 – 60 minutes, every day in December. https://www.frazzledcafe.org/
- Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). 125 lives are lost every week to suicide. And 75% of all UK suicides are male. CALM exist to change this by provoking conversation, running life-saving services, and bringing people together so they reject living miserably, get help when they need it and don’t die by suicide. Telephone 0800 58 58 58 or contact https://www.thecalmzone.net
- BEAT Eating Disorders offers a helpline that is open all year and helps those with eating disorders and friends and family. It offers telephone helplines and email support. Call England: 0808 801 0677, Scotland 0808 801 0432, Wales 0808 801 0433, Northern Ireland 0808 801 0434 or contact https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk
- PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide is the UK charity dedicated to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in young people. Telephone 0800 068 4141, Text 078600 39967, email [email protected] open 9am – midnight every day of the year (Weekends and Bank Holidays included) https://www.papyrus-uk.org