Huis van de Buurt De Boomsspijker: Buurthuis in Nieuwmarkt, Amsterdam

★★★★★ 4.1

De Boomsspijker is the neighbourhood centre of the Nieuwmarkt area in Amsterdam, on the Recht Boomssloot canal. Go for a shared lunch or dinner with neighbours, a creative workshop, a sports class or advice on housing and paperwork. Stichting DOCK runs the house as one of its Huizen van de Buurt. Social workers and volunteers organise the buurtlunch and buurtrestaurant, a film club and neighbourhood tables, and there are advice hours with Pluspunt, the Buurtteam and housing advisers, some by appointment. It is a place for people who live nearby, so most of what happens is aimed at residents rather than visitors. The building has a sports hall that takes about 50 people and a back room for around 20, both listed for hire on the DOCK site. The house is wheelchair accessible and has a wheelchair-friendly toilet. DOCK lists the current activities on WijkConnect, so that is the place to see what is on before you go. The house is open from Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 22:00, and at weekends on request. Rooms for hire range from a small meeting room to the sports hall and the back room, which is available from 17:00, and the ground-floor kitchen can be hired too.