
Welcome to the first edition of the Molly Rose Foundation Newsletter for 2025
New year, new us! Molly Rose Foundation is ringing the changes with a website relaunch, breathing fresh air into your portal for mental health support for the under-25s.
Boasting redesigned webpages, a revamped training booking system and an overall more fluid online journey, you can learn more about the vital work we do as we head into the new year with optimism and a vision of a world where young people can live long and stay strong.
We have been delighted at the huge response to our adverts for a Head of Fundraising and two Policy and Public Affairs Managers – applications are now closed so watch this space as our team continues to grow!
If you need support, you can still contact someone you trust for help. You are not alone and it is OK not to be OK.
If you’re finding today difficult text MRF to 85258 to message a trained volunteer.
News
Molly’s father and Chair of Trustees Ian Russell wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, calling on him to act urgently in order to protect young people online. In the letter published and reported by the BBC, Ian argued for stronger online safety legislation and warned the “streams of life-sucking content seen by children will soon become torrents: a digital disaster driven by the actions of tech firms.”
The letter prompted follow-up after Peter Kyle told BBC journalist Laura Kuenssberg the Online Safety Act was “unsatisfactory.”
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Ian also wrote to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, making the case for online safety regulation being compatible with economic growth. In a later interview, Ian pointed out that the education sector and children’s mental health services are financially paying for the failures of tech giants to protect children online.
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Molly Rose Foundation responded to the sentencing of 19-year-old Cameron Finnigan, who was jailed for offences including attempting to groom a child into suicide as part of a far-right online group. Our CEO Andy Burrows said online safety laws needed to be reviewed to protect children and society from “a growing melting pot of extreme and violent threats.”
He added: “We are deeply concerned about the growing threat of violent motives and ideas fermenting online, including those which are fuelling a wave of sadistic grooming to coerce children into grooming and self-harm acts. Regrettably, our calls for Ofcom to respond to this urgent threat have so far fallen on deaf ears.”
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Meta’s new rules on content moderation risk pushing social media back to the place it was when Molly Russell died, the Foundation has warned.
In an open letter to Dame Melanie Dawes, the Chief Executive of Ofcom, Andy warned the regulator’s current approach is nowhere near strong enough and called on it to commit to signifiant new, fast-tracked measures to prevent teens from being exposed to a tsunami of harmful content on Facebook and Instagram.
To see more MRF news and press releases, please visit our news section.
Raising awareness
Next month we will be supporting Children’s Mental Health Week by delivering My Bag of Happiness training sessions to six different schools in six days.
Led by our trainer Lisa Pascoulis, the sessions help to improve children’s mental health and well-being by providing a starting point for conversations and activities for pupils to reflect on happy memories and gain strength from them. Last year we distributed almost 5,000 bags to primary schools and this year we look certain to smash that target with 2,325 bags sent out already.
Schools and parents are also encouraged to print out our Molly Rose Foundation Know Yourself & Grow Yourself diary for the event and beyond. This seven-page booklet encourages children to record things which they are grateful for, acts of kindness they have completed, what they have learned and an exercise in recognising emotions and grounding themselves.
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Molly Rose Foundation will be supporting Safer Internet Day on February 11th with this year’s theme ‘Too good to be true? Protecting yourself and others from scams online’. You can find out more about the day here.
Fundraising
Molly Rose Foundation sends out a huge thank you to all the volunteers running on our behalf in the Brighton Marathon 2025 and the shorter 10k race, both on Sunday 6 April 2025.
We now have just two spaces to fill for the 10k, so if you fancy raising funds for the vital work we do, grab your running shoes and drop us a line at hello@mollyrosefoundation.org
The day will also see the return of Coffee for Molly, our mental health initiative to the area for both events. Coffee for Molly sees the placement of resources in coffee shops along the running routes to encourage customers to talk about mental health. It is free for coffee shops to sign up and they will be stocked with Where to Find Help cards, conversation starter menus and coffee cup sleeves all making the public aware of Molly Rose Foundation and the importance of taking time to talk.
If you own or know of a coffee shop that would like to get involved, please email hello@mollyrosefoundation.org
Education, training and self-support
Training
Starting next month, we will list the vital courses you can book with us on our revamped training page; whether it’s how to become a Youth Mental Health First Aid Champion, ways to open a crucial conversation in Suicide First Aid, our What is Mental Health two-hour workshop or our My Bag of Happiness activity for schoolchildren.
Some of the feedback we have received recently: “I found the course really valuable in helping me to be able to support the students I work with at a high school. Our instructor was also fabulous at presenting what is a sensitive subject in a way that was accessible and interesting for the group.”
“The course progressed at a good pace, with plenty to learn and apply in both personal and professional life. I believe this course should be expanded to include families, as parents need to be aware of these concepts. Mental health should be addressed at home, and educating parents could help them understand the approaches to take if they are struggling, potentially benefiting their own mental health as well.”
My Bag of Happiness
Suitable for children aged between 7-11, these cheerful purple bags support PSHE lessons and encourage children to create and collect happy memories, enabling them to reflect upon these and gain strength when needed.
Feedback tells us this initiative is empowering for the children who take part and equips them with vital tools with which to express themselves.
If you are a teacher or parent and would like to receive one or more of these Molly Rose Foundation-designed ‘My Bag of Happiness’ packs please contact us via the email address: training@mollyrosefoundation.org to submit your request, letting us know the relevant information (including your name, address, contact details, number of packs required etc). Any additional background details you can provide us with about why you’d like one or more of these packs would also be appreciated.
MRF staff are also available to run workshops using the packs and will happily come into schools in the London area to do this. Our trainers are DBS checked and are used to working with children in schools. To arrange a workshop please contact us at: training@mollyrosefoundation.org
Donations directly to the My Bag of Happiness initiative can be made here.
Support in crisis
Last year, we sent out a staggering 66,735 ‘Where to find help’ cards in response to 223 requests.
These popular pocked-sized help cards feature four different messages of reassurance and provide information signposting children and young people to mental health support services.
Some of our recent feedback: “These will used in our centre and refuge houses/ reception area to support, women and young adults suffering with Domestic abuse.”
“The box of cards will be in my school reception areas for anyone that needs to access your amazing services.”
We also welcome requests from universities, colleges and schools. If you are an individual with a connection to any of these, please get in touch.
If you know of any organisation which could benefit from receiving a set of our ‘Where To Find Help’ cards, please Click Here to complete the request form. Each box contains approximately 140 cards with a list of recommended organisations that can help in varying circumstances. On the reverse side you’ll find printed one of four different inspiring quotes.
If you require more than one box, please state how many in the comments section online and we will arrange delivery of any amount required.
Please Click here to complete a request form and find out more about our help cards.
Other ways to support us
Become a regular donor – Click here to view our Enthuse platform, where you can view fundraising events already in place and where you can take the opportunity to start fundraising yourself. Alternatively, click here where you can make a donation directly.