Last week, I had the huge honour of receiving the WE Award: Together Against Loneliness at the One Young World Summit in Munich 2025, recognising The Great Friendship Project as one of the leading youth-led initiatives tackling loneliness globally.
The summit brought together around 2,000 young leaders from 196 countries, all united by a shared mission: to create a more peaceful, connected, and sustainable future.
Over the week, we heard from Nobel Prize winners, like Maria Ressa to football legends like Philipp Lahm and Rio Ferdinand, to inspiring voices like Terry Crews, Sir Bob Geldof, and Queen Rania of Jordan.
Beyond the main stage, I had the chance to meet young leaders from every corner of the world, exchange lessons learned, and find shared hope in the incredible work being done across climate, education, mental health, and social innovation.
The summit was also the launch of its first-ever WE Award: Together Against Loneliness – an award designed to shine a light on the some of the leading youth-led projects working to rebuild human connection in an increasingly fragmented world.
And it was a huge honour for the project to be selected from thousands of applications for this prize and the very fact that such an award now exists, is a heartening reminder that the issue of loneliness is perhaps finally now being recognised as one of the defining social challenges of our time.
It also felt particularly special to receive this recognition on the world stage, just days before we celebrate four years since launching the project.
Sharing My Story
As part of the award, I had the chance to address the summit and share that journey over the last 4 years – that started during one of the hardest chapters of my life, in the aftermath of COVID.
Like so many others, over the course of the pandemic – my life changed dramatically. Over the two years of COVID, friends had moved away or settled down, my work had become remote, and communities that existed before the pandemic had shut down.
As I looked to rebuild my social circle – it struck me how hard it had become to make new friends as an adult.
Dating apps, singles events and run clubs were everywhere, and yet there were very few spaces that were purposefully built to help foster new friendships.
So I set out to create what I couldn’t find – spaces that were low-cost or free to stay affordable even in a cost-of-living crisis, consistent enough to build momentum, diverse enough to keep things fresh, and facilitated in a way that reduced social anxiety and made forming friendships feel easier.
The Impact
What started as one small walk for 12 people has since grown into a movement helping tens of thousands of young adults find community and belonging.
Our community has grown to over 55,000 members, and in the past year alone, we’ve supported 18,500 young adults across London through our mix of free and low-cost social activities – from walks, board games afternoons, quizzes, and activities designed to help people come alone and leave with real friendships.
We combine behavioural science, data, research-backed practice, and lived experience to try to make connection easier, and prevent loneliness, before it becomes chronic.
Alongside this, we run campaigns, deliver programmes, conduct research, and work alongside government, employers, and universities to change how society talks about loneliness, build more connected communities, and ensure no one finds themselves in the situation I once did.
]As part of this, our campaigns have reached over 40 million people, have sparked national debate and have reached the Houses of Parliament.
We’ve also delivered targeted initiatives for areas and groups most at risk of loneliness – from our new LaunchPad Community for unemployed young adults, to men’s Wellbeing & Connection workshops in partnership with Beyond Equality, to local pilots with councils like Sutton Council.
Where Next?
I can’t say the journey has been easy. There have been sleepless nights, moments of doubt, and more setbacks than I can count.
But what’s kept me going through it all is the incredible community around me: the volunteers, supporters, and amazing young people who make our community what it is – in so many ways, this award belongs to all of you ❤️
On the back of this milestone, we’re looking ahead to continuing our mission to:
A) Establish social health on par with mental and physical health – ensuring society recognises friendship as a vital part of what keeps us happy, healthy, and human.
B) Normalise conversations about loneliness so no young adult feels alone in feeling lonely or unable to reach out.
C) Expand our work to major UK cities, to create more spaces and opportunities for young adults to build connection, belonging, and community before loneliness takes hold.
After all, this award isn’t just a recognition of how far we’ve come – it’s a reminder of why this mission matters, and that we’re only just getting started.
