The Voluntour guides you towards volunteer work!

On Saturday 25th of May a group of 19 internationals walked the Voluntour. Simone Timmer from Vrijwilligers Centrale Amsterdam and Yulia Bachvarova from Dakterras Art Productions (and more) showed them a few hidden volunteer opportunities in the city centre.

From Central Station to the Old Church

• We started at theRuijtergaard, a green strip along the Ruijterkade where residents and volunteers can meet each other.
• Then we walked to Central Station where we met two volunteers of theWelcome Team. They give inside information about Amsterdam to tourists.
• Next stop: the beautiful rooftop from an apartment building on the Prins Hendrikkade. In the summer,Rooftop Art Productions organizes five evening concerts on that rooftop.
• Next to this place: TheBasilica of St. Nicholas, a unique place of silence. To preserve this peaceful atmosphere they need your help as a hostess or host.
• We proceed our tour to theMajor Bosshardthuisin the Oude Armsteeg. It is named after its most famous resident: Major Alida Bosshardt of the Salvation Army. If you want to be a volunteer here, you can welcome visitors.
• Next stop: a small community-center in the St Jansstraat calledTreasure House. Here, in the middle of the old center of the city, people come together to talk, eat, laugh or just sit a while with others.
• We walk back to theOld Church, in the middle of the historic city centre, is a place for contemporary art and Amsterdam’s oldest building.
• There is also aProtestant Communitythat meets in this church.
• We finish the tour at the neighborhood living room on the Oudekerksplein whereWe Live HereandResidents’ Organization Wallenbuurtdo their activities for tourists and residents.

From Waterlooplein to Oudezijds Achterburgwal

On April 24th we offered another tour on the other side of the city center.

• We started atArtSpace, a platform for and by professional visual artists, located at Jodenbreestraat. You can assist with changing the exhibitions, for instance.
• Next stop: Museum Rembrandthuis is a museum located in a former house in the Jodenbreestraat, in the center of Amsterdam. As a volunteer you can be a host in theRembrandt House
• St Lost[organization] is a literary foundation specialized in poetry and the crossovers between literature and other art forms at Kloveniersburgwal 86. As a volunteer you can help at the bar.
• In the St Anthoniebreestraat is the lovelyHouse the Pinto, a cultural and literary meeting center. As a volunteer you can help with events in the evenings and weekends, and during the day you can welcome visitors and assist with the library.
• The Flesseman on the Nieuwmarkt is a residential care center. For English speaking people they have a vacancy for volunteers who have a dog:Animal Lovers With a Heart of Gold
• In the community center.Boomsspijkeron the Recht Boomssloot you can help with various activities during the week.
• At theWaag Futurelabyou can help at many activities like exhibitions, Open Fablab, lectures, conferences and more.
• Oudezijds 100offers concrete help through walk-in, assisted living, general social work, training and various activities. The residential community functions as a large family and training school that supports emergency services.
• Clean Up Your Cityis a local initiative in the center of Amsterdam, set up by local residents with the aim of making our city cleaner and more sustainable.

Are you looking for more opportunies?

Look here forall the vacancies for English speaking volunteersThe Voluntour was organized by Vrijwilligers Centrale Amsterdam.Center Fundand various neighborhood organizations.

Photography: Marcel Jamsen,VCA Media