Thanks to our 12 month partnership with HostNation (a national refugee befriending charity), IPC is now running a unique new project on Teesside, promising to bring social opportunities and friendship to refugees and asylum seekers.
Friends without Borders asks you to commit to befriending a refugee or asylum seeker who lives locally, for at least 3 months. We hope you will help them practise their English, explore the area and show them how they can have new, positive experiences cheaply and often for free. Small weekly acts of kindness, generosity and hospitality can transform lives and some have made friends for life!.

Friends without Borders asks you to commit to being a local host to a socially isolated refugee or asylum seeker who may have lived here for years, but has experienced little of what the place has to offer.
We hope you will show them more of the area and how they can have new, positive experiences cheaply and often for free.

For this reason we recommend befriending starts online with a weekly call to check in, chat and help with conversational English practice. When you’ve got to know one another you may want to make a plan to meet up for a walk in the park or to pursue a shared activity or interest. There will be no pressure to meet face to face before both parties feel ready to do so.

The Befrienders’ Guide