About us

Buurthuis Lydia

Buurthuis Lydia is a community centre located in Huize Lydia, a handsome building on the Roelof Hartplein in Amsterdam South. The building was completed in 1926 as a home for girls seeking work in the big city and as a boarding house for single women. Since 1980 it has been a meeting place for and by residents. Social contact, enjoyment and health are central to the activities we organize. The community centre is almost entirely run by volunteers who do this with great care and pleasure.
Buurthuis Lydia is a place where everyone is welcome. A place where initiatives by local residents for the neighbourhood are welcomed. Start-up, experimental initiatives are given a chance, as are already existing initiatives. The activities match needs of local residents. We encourage and support residents to make a difference in their neighbourhood.

Activities

Buurthuis Lydia organizes a variety of enjoyable courses, workshops, sports lessons and meetings for young and old.  A selection of the activities appears below.

Exercise - If you like dancing, you can indulge yourself. For example, you can learn tango and kizomba, dance along in events such as ‘Dancing is healthy’, folk dance or participate in jazz ballet or classical ballet. There are also various options for lovers of yoga, tai chi or pilates, or you can come by to see if boxing is something for you.

Mind sports and games - At chess club Caissa you can work on your chess skills and play matches every week. Bridge players or people who want to learn to play bridge will also be gratified. We also organize afternoons with board games.

Language and singing -  Do you want to learn Croatian or Italian, or improve your Dutch or English? Or learn to use your voice in a different way? That is also possible at Buurthuis Lydia. There are language lessons and we accommodate no fewer than three choirs.

Be creative -  You can take part in a drawing or painting course and sewing lessons. We also offer an art history course and theater workshops.

Lectures and music

Once a month on Sunday you can enjoy a classical concert or a cheerful jazz afternoon. The Vredescafé is also organized every month on a Thursday with interesting lectures and discussions.

Food and Get-togethers

Activities allow participants to get to know each other and make connections. We also organize the chat café where every weekday between 4 and 6 pm you can meet over a cup of coffee or tea or another drink and enjoy a chat.

A few days a week we offer a meal for low prices. On Saturdays, Buurtbuik cooks for free for people who cannot pay much for a meal. Those meals are prepared in our fine new kitchen. Would you also like to use it, for example for a cooking workshop? Feel free to drop by to see it and discuss what is possible.

Services

Are you renting a house and do you have questions about the rental price or the condition of your house? Then you can attend the rental consultation hour on Monday afternoon. In addition, there are people available, by appointment, to help you with questions about minor renovations or financial problems.

A few times a month, a meeting hour is organized about informal care and dementia. You can also visit the digital café where you can ask questions about your smartphone or tablet. The municipal neighbourhood manager and the local police officer also visit monthly on Friday mornings. For days and times, see our website buurthuislydia.nl/activiteiten.

Organization

Buurthuis Lydia is managed by the foundation Stichting Buurthuis Lydia. The board consists of a chairman, treasurer and secretary. In addition, there is a manager who is responsible for the day-to-day operations and who is supported by a few teams: the bar and management team, the program team, the maintenance team and the communications team. The community centre works closely together with Combiwel Buurtwerk.

Information

Through the neighbourhood newspaper, the Wijkkrant, which is published five times a year, local residents are kept informed of the activities taking place and all kinds of other news from the neighbourhood. In addition, Buurthuis Lydia publishes a newsletter approximately every two months, or occasionally more often. You can sign up for the newsletter (in Dutch): nieuwsbrief@buurthuislydia.nl. Finally, various activities are also brought to your attention via Facebook and Instagram.

For more information

Buurthuis Lydia
Roelof Hartplein 2A
1071 TT Amsterdam
Tel: 020-6629497
E-mail: info@buurthuislydia.nl

By the way

We are always happy with new volunteers. Would you like to work behind the bar, occasionally help with the maintenance of the building or do other things? Come by to discuss and see what you can do. Or email us at info@buurthuislydia.nl.