School to Belong
programme

Tools for reducing loneliness among young people

HelsinkiMission’s School to Belong program helps the school community identify and reduce loneliness among young people, and provides tools for addressing it. The School to Belong program has established its position as a trusted partner in reducing loneliness in educational institutions.

In 2025, 47 new educational institutions signed up for the program, and the program was in use in 169 educational institutions across Finland. The educational institutions participating in the School to Belong program have a total of 130,000 pupils and stude.

Last year, the program also expanded to higher education institutions: the program was introduced at 13 different higher education institution locations. School to Belong also received recognition for its work in reducing loneliness through an invitation to the President of the Republic’s Independence Day reception.

According to the School to Belong loneliness survey, loneliness has also turned to a slight decline: 14% of students experience harmful loneliness. In upper secondary schools that had participated in the program for 2 years, 5 percentage points less loneliness was experienced (7%) than in upper secondary schools just starting the program (12%). In addition, in upper secondary schools that had participated in the program for 2 years, 34% of students feel able to ease their own loneliness. In upper secondary schools just starting the program, the figure is 25%, that is, 9 percentage points lower.

In 2025, an impact study of the School to Belong program was launched, which will produce scientific evidence of the program’s effectiveness in 2027. In 2025, the program developed a new theme week and a communal “Let’s Eat Together” campaign, created new lesson material on social skills, produced 9 informational videos, and a tip booklet for supporting a sense of community. In 2025, more than 21,000 loneliness-reducing encounters were created through the program. A total of 31 training sessions and information sessions were carried out for pupils, parents, and school staff.