Ways to do good in Amsterdam

Monthly action day

Join Serve the City Amsterdam on its monthly action day, with all kinds of events in your own district. You can do everything from baking pancakes for the homeless to helping out at the organic self-harvest garden Pluk! in Amsterdam Nieuw-West. The charity also sometimes asks for “running reporters” to document all of the good deeds. 

Get active

If you are feeling the winter blues, what you need might be to join a Dutch sports club. Amsterdam offers a rainbow variety of sports from the Lowlanders inclusive rugby team for LGBTQ+ people and friends to the Willem III rowing club. Some link social and physical activities, like the Running Junkies, who do twice-weekly runs and organise events such as a pre-marathon pasta party. 

Christmas cheer 

Every year, charities look for help with their St Nicholas (Sinterklaas) and Christmas efforts. You can volunteer to be Sinterklaas for a day by giving a gift and poem to a child, or give a financial donation. You can become a friend of the Stichting Sint in Amsterdam charity, which organises the Sinterklaas “intocht” sail around the city, or volunteer for one of the activities they organise. Or keep an eye out at local organisations like churches and community centres (buurthuizen) for a Christmas dinner for the elderly where you could help out. 

Working with animals 

If you share a common language with animals, think about offering assistance somewhere like a kinderboerderij, a petting zoo for children. The Boerderij Westerpark is a popular location, but there are many others. Kinderboerderij De Gliphoeve is located in de Bijlmer and has activities such as a repair cafe. There is the Boerderij op IJburg. The national organisation Dieren Bescherming can also help you find your nearest animal shelter. 

Clean streets 

Thanks to a social media post that went viral, Amsterdammer Victor Knaap recently organised a “cleansday” to encourage everyone in the city to help tidy the streets. The event looks set to be an annual tradition. Keep an eye on websites like Burendag for details of neighbourhood cleans, while every week you will find drop-in park cleans organised by Serve the City Amsterdam’s green volunteering listing. Not only will you leave behind a clean park: you might leave with a tidy new set of friends.