Winchester residents “having a bad time” were offered support on the day described most miserable of the year.

Winchester Samaritans were available to people at the city train station to offer free teabags and advice.

“Today is Blue Monday, but that’s not really what we want to call it – instead we call it Brew Monday. That’s because the idea is to take a teabag, make a cup of tea, and share it with a friend in order to talk to people and open up.” said a spokesperson from Winchester Samaritans.

“January is a really difficult time for so many people and a good number have already come over, taken leaflets and had a conversation. At the end of the day after work, it can be easier to both talk – and listen – to people as the stress has taken its toll and people are ready to go home.”

Winchester Samaritans now have over one hundred volunteers and can be located at 13 Upper High Street.

Blue Monday was coined by psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall over ten years ago, and takes into account different factors such as weather conditions, the end of Christmas, debt, failed New Year’s resolutions and low motivation levels.

Basingstoke Bison Coach Doug Sheppard says he was impressed with his side’s 6-1 thrashing of fierce rivals Bracknell Bees in the National Cup.

Just 5 minutes in the Bees were penalised as James Galazzi crashed into Bison keeper Dean Skinns, sending the Basingstoke man into his own net.

Roman Malinik then scored the opener for the Herd, with Daniel Scott stunning the Bees’ keeper Alex Mettam soon after with a powerful long range shot from a powerplay.

Tomas Karpov continued the scoring in the second period on a delayed penalty call, whilst Daniel Scott scored another long range shot shortly after when the puck broke to him at the top of the hash marks.

Hallam Wilson then fired in the fifth of the game, and was soon after knocked to the ice as the Bees’ frustration grew.

However in the third period, Wilson kept his cool and, showing little to no signs of damage from the hit, took the Bison to 6 goals after skilfully breezing past the Bees’ number 4 Luke Jackson, and slotting the puck cleanly past the keeper.

The opposition pulled one back through Joshua Thomas Martin with just 6 minutes to go, ending hopes of a clean sheet for Bison keeper Alex Mettam, but it was too little too late for the Bees.

“I thought we played really well tonight,” said Bison Coach Doug Sheppard, “We’ve been playing well for three weeks and we wanted to keep things going.”

“Derby nights can get like that,” he said about some of the nasty hits, “especially with the scoreline being what it was. They’re obviously frustrated, lost a few in a row, but I thought our guys handled it with some great play, and played hard throughout”.

Basingstoke Bison’s next game in the cup is away to Swindon Wildcats on Boxing Day, with the return leg the following day.

Coffee could bring more good than harm says a recent study by The University of Southampton.

The benefits were seen in drinking a moderate three to four cups of coffee a day and have been seen to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancers, neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s and the greatest benefit being in liver conditions.

In order to get a better understanding of the effects of coffee consumption on health, Dr. Robin Poole, specialist registrar in Public Health at UOS, led a team in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh to carry out an umbrella review of over 200 studies from observational and clinical trials.

For students, high quantities of coffee can make the world go round whilst juggling academic responsibilities and social engagements. When asked if students should be limiting their daily cups of coffee, Dr. Poole said, ‘Our research suggested that drinking 3 or 4 cups of coffee a day had stronger links with some benefits than drinking less or drinking more than that amount. Reassuringly, drinking more than 3 or 4 cups was not associated with harm, but the level of benefit was reduced.’

‘There may be factors such as smoking, alcohol, nutrition, income, and education that may also be linked to drinking coffee and linked to the outcomes that may lead to false associations of benefit or harm.’

‘We would suggest students who are already drinking this amount of coffee, to continue to enjoy it, but try and make it as healthy as possible by avoiding adding too much sugar, syrup, or accompanying the beverage with biscuits, cakes, and pastries. Additionally, the magnitude of the benefit from drinking coffee is actually quite small compared to the benefits or stopping smoking, drinking less alcohol, or taking more physical activity on risk of various health outcomes. So students who wish to become as healthy as possible should target those lifestyle factors first!’