At the end of September, the Local Friendship Programme hosted a get-together for all those participating in the programme with their families. The Agora lobby was packed with participants, a total of 301 people registered. This is a record number in the history of the entire befriending programme, launched in 2001.
The idea was to bring together paired friends — local friends and students — to meet face to face and connect. The pairs of friends found each other in the Agora's large lobby through a matching number. They had been paired up by a team from the friendship programme before the meeting party, taking into account the wishes sent by each of them as far as possible. A lively murmur of speech and joyful laughter filled the house.
The programme was relaunched after covid break, and the response was a surprise to all, as the number of pairs participating increased to almost 120. The large number of participants also caught the organising team by surprise, and the planned evening had to be changed mid-flight.
At the end of the evening, many pairs of friends came enthusiastically to thank for the event, some local friends with decades of experience, the newly arrived university students thrilled by the new experience and the unique opportunity opened up to them.
