Around 20 young Londoners aged 16 to 18 took centre stage at the House of Lords on World Youth Skills Day as they launched Our Happy Place, a new youth media platform designed to give young people a voice on the issues shaping their lives and futures.
The expert-led platform aims to create a space where young people can ask questions, challenge ideas and engage in meaningful conversations with decision-makers, moving beyond being spoken about to being actively heard.
Hosted by Lord Uday Nagaraju, the launch event brought together young participants, parliamentarians, education leaders and industry professionals for an evening focused on dialogue and collaboration. Guests at the launch included David Evans, Usha Prashar and Virendra Sharma.
The first cohort will take part in an eight-episode podcast series exploring issues affecting their generation, including artificial intelligence and the future of work, identity, loneliness, friendship, social media, failure, belonging, family expectations, mental wellbeing, stereotypes and a rapidly changing world. Speaking at the launch, journalist and Our Happy Place founder, Loveena Tandon said the platform was created in response to a growing gap between conversations about young people and conversations with them.
“Whether it's the conversations around education, the future of work, social cohesion or the challenges facing young people, they are often spoken about rather than spoken with,” she said.
“Our Happy Place was created to change that. Built on the belief that we are ‘Different. Not Divided’, it gives young people the skills, the confidence and, most importantly, the platform to ask difficult questions, challenge ideas, seek answers and truly listen to one another.”
Tandon added that the first cohort was “learning how to have better conversations” and inviting wider society to listen, with the hope of building a more connected future.
Khanak Patel, 17
Khanak has recently completed her A-levels and for her, one of the most memorable episodes explored the idea of finding our “happy place” through interfaith relationships. “In a world that often feels divided by religion, culture and identity, it was refreshing to focus on the values that unite us instead,” he said.
“As a Hindu, one teaching that has always inspired me is the Sanskrit phrase Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, meaning the world is one family,” Khanak explained. “This conversation reminded me that, despite our different beliefs, we all belong to one human family and should always respect one another’s cultures and faiths.”
She also believes loneliness remains one of the biggest challenges facing young people. “It’s not simply a case of switching social media on or off,” she said. “We need more opportunities for young people to meet face-to-face, build genuine friendships and become part of their communities.”
On artificial intelligence, Khanak added, “AI should not be something young people fear. When used responsibly, it can improve productivity, support creativity and help us make the most of our own skills.”
Vatsal Bandaru, 16
Vatsal has just completed his GCSEs. Sharing his opinion about the podcast, he said, “Having these conversations with my peers made a huge difference because we all have different perspectives on life and have experienced very different school journeys,” says Vatsal.
For Vatsal, the strength of the programme came from creating a space where young people could be open and honest. He believes the shared experiences of young people helped conversations go deeper. “We all just ‘get it’ instantly,” he explains. “None of us had to explain what exam pressure, friendship groups, or social media expectations felt like because we had all experienced them ourselves. This shared understanding broke down barriers and allowed us to move beyond surface-level conversations into the deep, meaningful issues that matter most to us.”
The episode he believes will resonate most with young listeners is “Education System: What is the problem that current students are facing?”, featuring a discussion with Steve Chalke about how schools can better support different learning styles.
“This episode will connect with so many students because almost everyone has experienced the pressure of revising for exams rather than learning out of genuine interest,” says Vatsal. “The current education system often feels like a one-size-fits-all approach, where we are judged on our ability to memorise information rather than our understanding, curiosity or creativity.”
He argues that practical skills are becoming increasingly important. “Subjects like Design and Technology help develop hands-on skills that are valuable in today’s job market, yet they often receive far less emphasis than exam results.”
He also strongly believes policymakers must listen more closely to young people. “The people making decisions about young people’s futures should spend more time listening to the people who are actually living those experiences every day”, he said.
Hannah, 17
“It felt very relieving to know other people my age thought about similar topics within different social settings. I also think it's been eye opening and I've learned lots of different perspectives that I wouldn't have been able to see before, I think that's why I can't decide what would resonate most with viewers, because everyone has different experiences, opinions and interests they react and interpret topics differently.
“I feel social media pressure and influence is the largest worry of mine right now. while adults are aware of them and try to go about maintaining them, I think the way they do it makes it redundant and only exacerbates it in a way.”
