The Irish Refugee Council Student Befriending Programme

Housing is a cornerstone of integration; it is extremely difficult for people to feel at home in a country where they don’t have a stable base. The lack of security can negatively impact how people settle into a community and leave them perpetually stuck on the fringes of society.

In 2023, the Irish Refugee Council established a housing befriending programme that aimed to offer hands-on support to those trying to move out of Direct Provision and help the search for a place to rent. The programme brought together people of a refugee background with students in Trinity College Dublin to meet once a week and navigate the process of finding and accessing rented accommodation.

The programme launched in December 2023 was an enormous success, with many of the people accessing our service finding tenancies and moving on from Direct Provision and emergency accommodation.

We now are looking forward to launching a new series of the programme in July 2025.

As many people living in Ireland have been adversely impacted by the undersupply of affordable and suitable housing, we hope you would bring empathy and understanding to the befriending role and have an insight into some of the isolation and anxiety that comes with trying to move to a new place.

Aims of the befriending programme:

• Increase the capacity of those seeking to move out of emergency accommodation and foster genuine intercultural exchange and give members of the local community an understanding of people with a refugee background.
• Empower people and help them feel less intimidated by the private rental sector, and more motivated to keep searching.
• Introduce people living in emergency accommodation to the local population. This will hopefully not only aid their language and communication skills, but help people overcome feelings of isolation and institutionalisation.
• Trauma and stress mean people may struggle to retain information. Although we give advice on searching for private rental accommodation in our weekly info sessions, it can be hard to remember. A volunteer would be a friendly person to help people
  navigate the system.
• A positive project to help people with a refugee background feel welcomed and included in Irish society.

Main activities being undertaken:

Volunteers would undergo training, provided by the Irish Refugee Council, and be requested to commit 2 hours a week every for a period of 6-weeks. You would be there to offer people:

• One-on-one support with looking for accommodation.
• Help people prepare reference letters and other necessary documents
• Support with attending viewings, where possible.
• Advice on household budgeting
• Information on tenancy rights and HAP
• Support with speaking to potential landlords

The Irish Refugee Council would cover transport costs and also provide food for those participating.

If you are interested in applying to be a Befriender, or have any questions about it, please contact Evie Gibson on housing@irishrefugeecouncil.ie