Community Center Lydia is 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 Center is almost entirely run by volunteers who do this with great care and pleasure.
Community Center Lydia is a place where everyone is welcome. A place where initiatives by local residents for the neighborhood 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 neighborhood.

Activities

Community Center 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.  You can also 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 Community Center Lydia. There are language lessons and we can 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 Peace Café 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, a 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 neighborhood manager and the local police officer also visit monthly on Friday mornings. For days and times, see our website:  buurthuislydia.nl/activiteiten.

Organization

Community Center Lydia is managed by the Community Center Lydia Foundation. 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 Center works closely with Combiwel Buurtwerk.

Information dissemination

Through the neighborhood newspaper, Wijkkrant Zuid, 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 neighborhood. In addition, Community Center Lydia publishes a newsletter approximately every two months, or occasionally more often. You can sign up for the newsletter (in Dutch):  newsletter@buurthuislydia.nl.   Finally, various activities are brought to your attention via Facebook and Instagram.  You will of course find all information about us on our website buurthuislydia.nl.

For more information

Community Center 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 and get acquainted!
Or email (info@buurthuislydia.nl).