Family Next Door is starting! Dozens of Czech families will have lunch at a shared table with families of Ukrainian refugees.

A total of 70 families in the Czech Republic will experience an unconventional lunch again this year, thanks to Family Next Door, an innovative project by the Slovo 21 association. At tables set across the country, Czech families will sit down with families of Ukrainian refugees, even though they have never met before. Slovo 21 has been connecting Czechs and foreigners in this innovative way for twenty years. More than half of the participating families continue to visit each other.

"We always try to ensure that the people meeting for lunch are likely to get along and have as much in common as possible. This means they are roughly the same age, have similar education, hobbies, or children of the same age. In short, we want them to have an unforgettable day together and build long-term friendships. That is our main goal."

There are 35 meetings planned across the country until the end of the year. Unlike in previous years, families across the Czech Republic will not meet on one specific day at a set time, but can schedule their lunch for a date that suits them. However, they must complete it by the end of the year. One of the families always takes on the role of host and prepares a festive lunch for the other. "Food has always brought people together, and that is what our project is built on," says Ljiljana Batovanja, coordinator of the Family Next Door project.

Organizers pair the registered families based on various criteria. "We always try to ensure that the people meeting for lunch are likely to get along and have as much in common as possible. This means they are roughly the same age, have similar education, hobbies, or children of the same age. In short, we want them to have an unforgettable day together and build long-term friendships. That is our main goal," explains Batovanja, adding that an assistant is also present at each meeting to help overcome any initial shyness between the two families.

Since 2004, nearly 1,800 families—a total of over 5,000 people—have met over lunch in this way. Roughly 60% of the families involved in the project continue to visit each other even years after their first meeting through Family Next Door. Masha’s family from Ukraine, who joined the project last year, is also still in contact with their Czech host family. "Meeting the Bernášek family was wonderful. We were surprised by how much they knew about Ukraine. They had visited several times before they had children. They were quite sad that they couldn't visit again because of the war," adds Masha, who prepared traditional borscht and holubtsi—cabbage leaves stuffed with meat—for her guests.

The Family Next Door project received the SocialMarie award for its originality and innovative approach. At the end of 2013, it was also recognized by the Maurer Foundation as one of the best projects in the field of gastronomy that helps the socially disadvantaged. The European Commission has identified Family Next Door as one of the best ways to integrate foreigners into society. The format of bringing together families from the majority society with families of foreigners has been adopted by seven other European countries: Belgium, Malta, Italy, Spain, Slovakia, Hungary, and Portugal.

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Contact person:

Mgr. Marie-Anna Růžičková, +420 732 268 201

Email: propagace@slovo21.cz