Dinner with a Stranger: How two Glasgow students are combatting loneliness at university

Tired of endless scrolling on social media? Us too. Two University of Glasgow students have created a new society for young people to meet new people over a meal.

21-year-old Juliette Sartori and 22-year-old Mary Yiorkadji created Dinner with a Stranger, a society where friendship is always on the menu, in hope to connect with new people.

The society has since grown to be very popular, with over 200 people signing up in the first month alone.

Juliette, a business and management student from the US, thought of the initiative alongside Mary after feeling lonely when she moved to Scotland. Originally from Cyprus, fourth year economics and philosophy student, Mary, was also struggling with feeling lonely at university.

Inspired by a successful coffee date with strangers, they launched Dinner with a Stranger—a friendship matchmaking society where friendship is always on the menu.

Talking to the BBC, Juliette revealed that what started as a “maybe 30 people will join” idea quickly became a campus hit, with over 200 students signing up in its first month.

Without complicated dating algorithms, Dinner with a Stranger is all about personality quizzes. Students share their favourite movies, dream holiday spots, and go-to karaoke songs. After that, Juliette and her team play friendship matchmakers, pairing people up and letting the magic unfold.

“People are lonelier now. Our generation is lonelier,” said Mary, an economics and philosophy student from Cyprus. “Social media creates unrealistic expectations and makes real connections harder.”

Explaining how social media can have a negative impact on friendships, she added: “There are lots of people from different backgrounds and it can be really intimidating feeling like you’re different and people won’t understand you.”

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Second year Glasgow students, 19-year-old Vanya and 20-year-old Hannah, met through Dinner with a Stranger, and have become incredibly close since. The two were paired last December and are now best friends and flatmates.

“Society focuses so much on romance that we forget how important friendships are,” Hannah, originally from Manchester. pointed out. She added that before meeting Vanya she was “miserable”and spent much of her time alone, but their friendship has boosted her mental health and increased her confidence.

Vanya, an economics student from India, also loved the fresh approach: “You go in with no assumptions. It’s just two people talking and seeing where it goes.”

Juliette believes that with social platforms like Bumble introducing friend matching features, this type of thing is the way forward.

“It’s a modern way to make friends—taking the dating app concept but making it about real friendships.”

So, if you’re hungry for new connections, skip the swipe-right game and try Dinner with a Stranger. Who knows? Your next great friendship might just be one conversation away.

Featured image via Facebook and Instagram @dinnerwithastrangersociety