To combat the isolation and precariousness of students, an association connects willing families with young people alone during the holidays, with a goal of sharing 1,000 meals this year.
«We spent the entire evening together. There was a mother and her four children. I played a little piano with them. It really did me good,»
Ulrich, a 25-year-old student from Cameroon, recalls with palpable emotion the evening of January 1st last year, of this «solidarity meal» to which he was invited. «As a foreign student, we are far from our families, and it comforts us not to be alone!» he confides.
Last year, over 600 solidarity meals were organized throughout France following the same principle. Between December 22 and January 2, a willing family opens its doors to a student for a meal, lunch, dinner, or even a simple snack. A breath of «family warmth» for these young students often struggling with loneliness and financial difficulties.
Un étudiant accueilli par une famille l’an dernier. • © Studhelp
At the heart of this initiative is an association that fights against student precariousness in France. Studhelp has opened several branches in France and organizes food distributions, gathers donors, and since 2204, through a digital platform, connects lonely students in need with willing families to simply share a holiday meal.
«The goal this year is to double it, to exceed the 1,000 meal mark all over France,» says Florian Rippert, co-founder and CEO of the StudHelp association.
On Wednesday evening at the Maison de la vie étudiante on rue de Rennes in Paris, the association launched for the second consecutive year its online platform «Les RepaSolidaires». The event brought together families, students, donors, economic partners of the association, all united by a common will.
Among them, Lionel, 24, from Cameroon. «I am alone, I have no family in France. It’s an opportunity for me to meet people, meet a family, and be able to spend the holidays,» whispers this student timidly.
I need to be with people. It will do me good!
Lionel, 24-year-old student
According to a survey conducted in November 2025 among 550 students supported by the association, 81.6% of them plan to spend Christmas or New Year alone. Isolation that affects their health, academic success, and quality of life according to the association.
«Spending Christmas alone, with an empty fridge: double jeopardy,» emphasizes the association, citing worsening financial precariousness: «57.7% of students live with €100 or less after rent and charges; 96.2% with less than €500.
According to a report from the «Tenir, manger, étudier» 2025 Observatory by StudHelp, «Diet becomes the adjustment variable.»
Also read: «I learned to live with little,» to fight against student precariousness, a parliamentary report proposes a reform of the scholarship allocation system
This precariousness particularly affects foreign students facing increasing administrative and financial obstacles, emphasizes the general director of the StudHelp association. «There are more and more laws that are quite catastrophic, especially for international students, with increased tuition fees in universities, cuts to housing benefits for some students from non-European countries. As a result, many students are in very difficult situations. Some have had to sleep outside,» says Florian Rippert.
Sylvie came to the launch of the online platform «Les RepaSolidaires» on Wednesday evening, perhaps to relive the experience she had last year.
At the end of the year, she hosted a young Korean girl for a meal at her home «Her father was still in the south of France, her mother had returned to Korea. I have a friend who is also of Asian origin, from Taiwan, but has been in France for a long time, I invited her to dinner too. They talked a lot about Asia, all sorts of things. And it went well in a very relaxed way.»
Des flyers à destination des familles
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© France 3 Paris Île-de-France
As the holidays approach, StudHelp hopes to bring together nearly 1,000 families with diverse profiles, like last year. «It can be both the little lady who is retired and whose children are thousands of kilometers away who will spend Christmas alone or with her friend and who would like to host two students on the 24th and two students on the 31st,» details Florian Rippert. «But there is also this family that tells us they have a young baby and with his wife and therefore there are only three of them,» he adds.
Ulrich, who benefited from a solidarity meal at the end of 2024, came to the launch of the platform, but this time the student has another goal. He is now part of the association’s volunteer team and participates in the collection and distribution of food items.
«Tonight, I am coming to share a convivial moment with other students and partners of StudHelp, where we can stay and discuss, share projects, have a good time!»
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