The first step is to register to become a host. Dinners can be hosted both by people who have lived in your community for many years or new arrivals, once you're registered we'll give you suggestions for identifying guests to invite and you'll get your own page on ChangeX that you can use if you're organizing a public event.

In order to sign up, we just need your contact details, why you'd like to do it and where you are. You can sign up: right here

Inviting others along

You may already have new arrivals in your community in mind to invite or perhaps you know there are new arrivals but you haven't made contact with them yet? Either way, we'll help you get in touch!

If you already know who you wish to invite, move on to Step 3, if not here's some useful tips on connecting with new arrivals in your community.

If you're not even sure where to start, a good first step is to contact local immigration organizations. When newcomers arrive, there are government and non-governmental organisations who help them with the transition. A Google search of organisations in your area will help you find out where to start. Reach out to them and see if you can talk to the newcomers or send them information. Be sure to emphasize that it’s free to attend for the dinner guest!

Another great way to connect is through existing language classes. A further possibility is to get in touch with places of worship in your area, as they often act as places of community and information for newcomers.

If you're in Minnesota, here are some links that may be helpful:

International Institute of Minnesota

CAIR Minnesota

African Development Center Minnesota

ISUROON

African Immigrants Community Services

If you're in Ireland, here are some links that may be helpful:

City of Sanctuary Dublin

Waterford Place of Sanctuary

Northern Ireland Community of Refugees & Asylum Seekers

Doras Luimni

Croí na Gaillimhe

Migrant Rights Centre Ireland

Immigrant Council of Ireland

Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration

South Belfast Roundtable

MASI

Omnomnom

Our Table

Fáilte Isteach

NASC

It's totally up to you how many people you invite, there are no rules! Most people invite someone and ask them to bring someone else along or maybe invite a family who can then just join your family. It will depend on whether you decide to do it in your home or host a potluck in a more public space.

Once you have people to attend then all that's left to do is set a date for your dinner and invite your dinner guests. You can do this through ChangeX by setting up a local page - (it doesn't need to be a public page) or else you can do it simply by arranging the time and date through phone or text message with your guests. Don't forget to check in on the dietary requirements of your guests. Also make sure to check if your guests have transport arrangements to get to your home, and if not, maybe consider whether you could help them get there.

Once you have a time and date set, let the ChangeX team know so that we can keep track of all the dinners happening.

Don't forget to follow up with your guests to confirm the date and time 24 hours before and if for any reason you need to cancel or reschedule, make sure to do it in plenty of time.

This is the easy bit! You'll get to meet new people, learn something new and most importantly make your community a more welcoming place!

The only other thing you need to remember on the night is to take a photograph and either post it to social media with #welcomedinner or send it to us here at ChangeX so that we can share it and inspire many others to join the welcoming movement.

 

Many people who host Welcome Dinners go on to host many more or continue to connect with their dinner guest. Of course there's no pressure to do either but if you had a positive experience, please do share it with friends, maybe encouraging them to do the same and together we can all build a more welcoming society!