Mission: To promote international friendship and understanding by welcoming international students as guests in British homes

Vision: A world more understanding and accepting of different cultures 

Celebrating 1987-2020: HOST UK was a charitable organisation set up in 1987 by the British Council, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Victoria League. It was funded by subscriptions from participating institutions and donations from grant-giving foundations.

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the charity to close, HOST UK asked another charity to continue it's work. In the summer of 2020, the HOST UK Programme and volunteers transferred to their new home at EIL UK.

HOST UK today: Run by EIL UK, the HOST UK programme continues to be supported by a network of voluntary Regional Organisers across the country with the collaboration of International Student Advisors in academic institutions.

The HOST UK programme enables international students at British universities and colleges to be invited to stay in a British home for a weekend or visit for a day where they have the opportunity to experience British culture at first-hand. HOST UK is open to all international students in higher and further education in the UK who are at least 18 years old and have enrolled on a course of at least 3 months. In 2015, more than 3,000 students from over 100 countries requested a HOST visit.

There are approximately 1500 volunteer hosts across the UK who report many benefits such as the chance to introduce their family to people from other cultures.