We are excited to share a recent story from Matthew Brindley, CTL Durham;
“In previous years, we have been involved in pre-sessional mentoring of new students over the summer in Durham. However, this year the mentoring programme did not run, and so over the last six months, our local branch in Durham have been discussing how churches could work with Friends International to facilitate welcome events over the summer for pre-sessional students.
Over the last few weeks, we have seen this come together – an afternoon tea run by one local church, followed by a roast dinner at another (thankfully not on the same day!).
Students were also taught fun colloquial phrases that they may not have come across before – think “I don’t give a monkey’s”! Church members loved getting to meet and welcome international students and we were delighted to see many people from both churches committing their time to cooking, baking, hosting and welcoming at the events. Several students have also signed up to stay in touch with Friends International throughout the year.
The local team is delighted by how the events came together, the opportunity to build on the friendships formed, and how so many people were part of making this a warm welcome for the new students…”
