I grew up in High Wycombe and when I first moved to London, I didn’t really know anyone outside of the friends I grew up with.
I had a couple of friends that stayed around but not enough to maintain what I’d consider a healthy social life, as I like to go out a couple times a week and socialise with people.
Searching for Community in a New City
It was a real worry for me before I moved, and so I decided to google “how to make friends in London” and all the articles seemed to suggest it was so hard in London, because of how unfriendly people are and the lack of community.
So I felt incredibly lucky to find the project soon after I moved to London. In the past, I had tried other methods of finding friends, whether that was through clubs, or simply trying to interact with other people when I was out with friends.
Whilst that worked somewhat, it didn’t give me a sense of community or belonging, and I only properly found that with The Great Friendship Project.
I met two of my closest friends at the very first event that I went to. I moved to London on the Monday, went to a board games event on the Wednesday, and met them. It just snowballed from there.
A Social Life That Keeps Growing
To look back on the past 2-3 years, the people I’ve met and things I’ve done – it’s incredible. It is the people I’ve met through the project that have been absolutely essential to my enjoyment of living in London.
Through it, I’ve managed to find the majority of the friends that I’ve made, some of which I can now consider some of my closest and best friends.
Even though I’ve made these friends, I still try and go to the events at least once a week because I’m always looking to make new connections. That’s one of my favourite things to do – I love meeting someone new and starting a new friendship.
The project’s events essentially ‘force’ you into making new connections, and whilst this may seem daunting at first, you’ll find that you enjoy the event so much more once you’ve made that leap to talk to new people.
You may not be someone who’s used to walking into a setting where everyone’s a stranger. But the truth is that everyone has to start somewhere, and if you really make an effort to talk to people, you’ll find after a few events you’ll fit right in, and start really benefiting from the group.
I’ve seen this happen with many people and it’s been a pleasure to see people go from being shy at their first event to now where I can see that they really feel like a part of the community.
However, if you commit to one or two events a week with The Great Friendship Project, then I can assure you that within say, a couple months at most you’ll find yourself with plenty of new connections.
A year ago, I may have shied away from social opportunities and I didn’t have anywhere near as many friends. But I think consistently going to these events has really helped me to come out of my shell and really thrive.
The project has been my main avenue for friendships since I moved to the capital. I’d say most of my friends in London have either come from this group, or as a result of making connections through it.
It’s truly been remarkable and I couldn’t imagine how different my social life would’ve been had the project not been around.
