What were Britain’s favourite moments of 2021?

Marcus Rashford’s school dinner campaigning was popular

The top moment was when the England men’s football team reached the final of Euro 2020 (Getty Images)

Britain’s favourite news moments of 2021 include Marcus Rashford’s school dinner campaigning, Donald Trump being banned from social media and Tom Daley knitting at the Tokyo Olympics.

However, the single best piece of news of the year was the England men’s football team reaching the final of Euro 2020, as voted for by 21 per cent of the 2,000 UK adults polled.

Emma Raducanu winning the US Open was also popular, as was Piers Morgan storming off the set of Good Morning Britain.

Other top moments of the year include Adele’s comeback, Cristiano Ronaldo rejoining Manchester United, and the infamous Zoom meeting with Jackie Weaver and Handforth Parish Council.

Carried out before the Downing Street Christmas party scandal broke, the poll was commissioned by ‘all-you-can-read’ digital magazine and newspaper app, Readly.

Behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings said: “2021 has been a year of great sporting moments which has united the nation.

“Yet continued public health issues, bizarre events and uncertainty has led to many of us experiencing highs and lows and worries about what might be coming next.

“Challenges such as working from home, limited social events and fewer connections with friends and family have been evident again this year.

“But one thing many of us have learned is to take our fast-changing news in ‘worry windows’, on a need-to-know basis, rather than watching rolling news or being on social media all day.

“We can decrease our levels of stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, by listening to soothing music and immersing ourselves in a magazine or newspaper of our choice which gives us balance as well as pleasure, releasing our reward hormone, dopamine.

“It’s all about self-care and indulgence in difficult times.”

The study also saw Marcus Rashford named ‘hero of the year’, picking up 31 per cent of votes.

He was closely followed by campaigner and environmentalist David Attenborough, with tennis ace Emma Raducanu placing third.

Musicians Adele and Ed Sheeran also came in the top 10, as did Sky Brown, the 13-year-old Olympic skateboarder.

The villain of the year, meanwhile, was former US President Donald Trump, chosen by a huge 44 per cent of adults.

Second place went to Matt Hancock and Meghan Markle – both chosen by 33 per cent of respondents, while 31 per cent opted for current Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The poll also found eight in 10 adults consider themselves ‘up to date’ when it comes to current events.

But 37 per cent of those working from home admit to missing the ‘water-cooler’ moments to chat to co-workers about items in the news.

Those polled estimate they have five conversations per month about big news stories, while just under a quarter tend to share the major development on social media

When a big piece of news does happen – for example, comedian Sean Lock passing away in August – 12 per cent heard the news from a TV broadcast.

More than one in 10 found out through social media, a few read about it in a digital newspaper, magazine or on the radio.

And just three per cent heard about it during an in-person conversation.

When it comes to topics Britons simply don’t want to hear about anymore, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle topped the list – joint with hearing about Love Island.

Four in 10 of those polled are fed up with hearing about YouTube personalities – and another one third don’t want to read anything else about cryptocurrencies.

Carried out through OnePoll, the survey found 51 per cent spent ‘too much’ time ‘doom scrolling’ this year – reading endless negative social media comments.

“Chris Crouchman, of Readly, which has 6,300 titles, said: “There has been much appetite for news this year across our portfolio of digital magazines and newspapers.

“Insights from the app show that people are also seeking inspiration and wanting to read about categories such as running, cycling and fitness, home & renovation and TV, film and cinema.

“However celebrity and entertainment remains the most read category among Brits this year.

“Whilst there are many topics our readers want to read more on, there are certainly some we’re all pretty ready to leave behind as we look forward to a fresh start in 2022.”

SWNS