Start with a Friend e.V.
Start with a Friend pairs immigrants and locals into tandems based on their interests and needs. Ideally, this leads to a friendship; in any case, it creates a social network that makes it easier for immigrants to get started in Germany. Start with a Friend supports and advises the pairs after they’ve been matched and organizes events to help the pairs connect with one another. It’s also important to us to create structures that allow people with busy professional and family lives to get involved. The schedule is therefore flexible, and training opportunities are available but optional. So far, Start with a Friend is active in 26 cities across Germany.
About Start with a Friend e.V.
Target group(s)
People like us without an immigrant background in over 26 cities in Germany:
Aachen, Berlin, Bochum, Bonn, Bremen, Chemnitz, Dortmund, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Freiburg, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne, Leipzig, Mannheim, Munich, Nuremberg, Potsdam, Stuttgart, Tübingen
Founding year
2014
Paid staff
24
Volunteers
300
Objectives
Start with a Friend e.V. (SwaF) is a nonprofit organization with 26 locations in Germany. Our vision is a society that embraces its diversity. Everyone feels at home and has an equal say in shaping it. To achieve this, we facilitate personal encounters between people with and without an immigrant background through one-on-one tandem partnerships, gatherings in clubs, activities in women’s communities, diverse community events, and shared engagement.
