While it is true that older people suffer from loneliness after their children have flown the nest and started their own families, there are a lot of young people who struggle with loneliness.
Moving away to university is a huge step, and trying to make brand new friends in a new environment away from home can be challenging to say the least. This is why a group of students have started a campaign to get people talking to each other.
One of the students behind the idea, Mae, explains: “We were given a project by Swizzels Love Hearts to create a viral video advert that would share the company’s ethos, and we knew it needed to be something which the public could get involved in. The more we thought about ideas, the more we realised we could use this opportunity to help students.”
The original film was created with her classmates Megan Crowther and Jess Grocock, but they want people to upload themselves doing dares, spreading joy and sharing with the hashtag #DareToLove.
The idea, which Mae plays throughout the video, is to pick out a Swizzels Love Heart and do what is printed on the sweet. The ‘love dares’ picked in the video include ‘hug me’ where Mae hugs a stranger, and ‘love me’ where Mae compliments a girl in the Union shop.
“It really makes a difference when somebody smiles at you or just says hello, it can make your day, and it would make a big difference if people did this more,” says Megan. “I’ve found that Manchester is a really friendly city, so it’s the perfect place for this type of project.”
Another upside to this is that the advert has been entered to become a real campaign by Swizzels, so any videos uploaded with the hashtag could also feature.
Mae Vittini, Megan Crowther and Jess Grocock are first year students in Public Relations & Marketing.
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