Almost 5,000 people feeling anxiety or despair due to the coronavirus pandemic have turned to a new website which is offering hope for those affected by the lockdown.
Lookforhope.org is a new website set up to help people connect with the Christian faith and find hope during this difficult time. Just 10 days after the new website was launched, it has already had over 13,000 individual page views from almost 5,000 visitors.
Visitors to the website have access to an array of thought-provoking articles and videos about life in lockdown. Written by a mix of Christian ministers and lay people from different backgrounds, the blogs reflect on the experience of contending with the challenges presented by coronavirus, and offer a message of hope despite the pandemic.
Across the country people are facing difficult and uncertain times, many are suffering and thousands have lost loved ones. While lives have been drastically changed in the short-term, there is likely to be a much longer-term impact too. Many are fearful and anxious, and are looking for some sort of security and hope, and the lookforhope.org website has been set up in response to this need. As well as blogs and videos, the website has a contact function so that people looking for support can be put in touch with their local Christian community.
Rev Tim Dennis, curate in the parish of Winklebury and Worting in Basingstoke, recognised the need for the website when he posted a blog on social media which reflected on his own experience during the lockdown. Tim was taken aback by the response he had to his blog, and realised that people were crying out for messages of hope relevant to their own experience. And so, with no budget, he taught himself web design and set up the lookforhope.org website in a matter of days.
Revd Tim Dennis said:
“I’ve been astounded by the response we’ve had to lookforhope.org so far. It shows that people are desperate right now for a message of hope that’s relevant to the struggles they are going through. Many are dealing with grief and real hardship, often in isolation, and it’s at times like these that our faith in God is most important.
“By bringing together contributors from different walks of life, the website offers thoughtful blogs and videos which offer hope and wisdom to everyone finding this period difficult.”
The Right Reverend David Williams, Bishop of Basingstoke, said:
“I’m really impressed by what Tim is doing, and the way he has responded to the current crisis. He is sharing the message of hope that lies at the heart of the Christian faith with creativity and imagination.
“I am delighted and encouraged by the way he has developed a website that seeks to enable us to reflect together how God meets with us during this pandemic.
“Through his website, Tim has already reached thousands of people, and I know that this will continue to grow at a time when that message is needed the most.”
For further information please visit: https://lookforhope.org/
