Noor Van Reet (17) is a student at De Prins and is the brain behind the “feel-good house”. The plan for the house grew out of personal experience, she tells Radio2 Flemish Brabant & Brussels. “When I was six years old, I was hospitalized for a long time due to surgery. Afterwards, I couldn’t participate in all the activities in class.” After being away from her classmates for a month, young Noor needed someone to talk to, but she didn’t know who to turn to. “That’s why, even as a six-year-old, I dreamed of a place like the feel-good house,” says Noor, “where everyone is welcome for a chat.”

“There is a great need for a place to talk about your mental health,” Noor believes. “I noticed that after the lockdown: many young people are struggling with mental problems and it’s not always easy to talk to an adult about it. That’s why in the house, you talk to one of the Conflixers. These are students from our school who have been trained to engage in conversations about each other’s problems.”