You can do something for refugees in many ways. By participating in an activity, organizing something yourself or facilitating something. You can do this yourself, or with your family, your group of friends or student association, your organization or your company. Participating is not only enriching for the newcomers, but just as much for yourself! There are many possibilities, see below. Do you have another idea? Don’t hesitate to contact us. We will see if we can work on it together.

Information about refugees

Would you first like to know more about refugees? Where they come from, how and where they are received and how their procedure works once they arrive in the Netherlands? Then read our information sheet.

Organize something

Of course, you can also organize an activity yourself. Think of (creative) workshops, tours of the city, game nights or sports days, cooking and eating together. Always choose something that excites you. For example, Loraine teaches yoga, Amir shared his knowledge during a workshop about architecture, and Daria coordinates a book club.

Help with activities

There are weekly activities you can join. Think about workshops, soccer nights, women’s groups or kids’ clubs. Look at our agenda to get an idea about our regular activities. We also visit different cultural institutes on a monthly basis and organize walking tours through the city and other active excursions which you can join.
For this we are looking for volunteers. Would you like this? Please send an e-mail to info@welkominutrecht.nu.

Join a language café

If you live in the Netherlands, it is of course very important and nice to be able to speak and read Dutch. There are formal language classes for that, but not every refugee can use them (yet) and moreover, it is nice to practice. This can be done at a language café. At a language café volunteers practice the Dutch language with refugees. Would you like to volunteer at a language café? You can! Please send an email to info@welkominutrecht.nu.
We work together with the WelnU language cafes and coordinate several language cafes ourselves.

Language cafe ofWelnU:
Monday 19.30 – 21.30 h | Restaurant De Bierkantine | Ravellaan 96

Language cafes of Welkom in Utrecht at Plan Einstein Joseph Haydnlaan:
Wednesday 17.00 – 18.30 h | Cafeteria PKN-building | Joseph Haydnlaan 2a
Friday 10.00 – 11.30 h | Attention: this language cafe is for women only | Joseph Haydnlaan 2a

Language cafes of Welkom in Utrecht at Emergency Shelter Star Lodge | Biltsestraatweg 92:
Monday 12.00 – 14.00 h | Attention: this language cafe is for women only
Monday 19.30 – 21.00 h
Tuesday 19.30 – 21.00 h
Thursday 19.30 – 21.30 h

Welkom in Utrecht’s language cafes at Plan Einstein Pahud | Pahud de Mortangesdreef 61:
At this location, language buddies meet during the week, on days and at times agreed upon by themselves.

Welkom in Utrecht’s language cafes at HerculesHoek | Herculesplein 5
Monday 19.30 – 21.00 uur
Thursday 19.30 – 21.00 uur
Friday 10:30 – 12:00 uur

Welkom in Utrecht’s language cafe at shelter location Europalaan | Europalaan 44
Wednesday 11:00 – 12:30 uur

Watch this video to get a better idea about our language cafes, made by Een Betere Wereld in de Buurt:

Help with children’s activities

Children’s activities are organized weekly or biweekly at various shelter locations. We organize children’s activities at these locations and times:

Asylum seeker center Oog in Al | Joseph Haydnlaan 2a
Saturday from 13:00 until 15:00 (once in two weeks)

Asylum neighborhood center Pahud (Overvecht) | Pahud de Mortangesdreef 61
Monday from 16:00 until 17:30

Asylum seeker center Star Lodge | Biltsestraatweg 92
Every last Friday of the month from 15:30 until 17:00

Shelter location Europalaan | Europalaan 44
Thursday from 15:30 until 17:00 (once in two weeks)

HerculesHoek | Herculesplein 5
Thursday from 16:30 until 17:30
Friday from 14:30 until 17:30

Shelter for Ukrainians | Koploperstraat 50
Tuesday from 17:00 until 18:00

Shelter for Ukrainians | Kanaalweg 19
Wednesday from 16:00 until 17:30

Shelter for Ukrainians | Vechtensteinlaan 12-16
Tuesday from 17:30 until 18:30

Would you like to help out on a regular basis with children’s activities at one of the above locations? We would love to hear from you via info@welkominutrecht.nu.

Become a buddy(family)

Many refugees (families and individuals) want contact with Dutch people. To improve their Dutch, to find their way in their new city, to expand their network, simply to do something fun together, or to help them orientate towards work. For example, they go for a coffee together, take a walk or visit an event. A lot of special friendships have come into being this way.

We have already brought many people together: an Eritrean and a Dutch buddy family who go to the playground together and eat together; a retired lady who helps a woman from Iran practice Dutch; a young English woman who helps a Syrian student improve his English for his studies; and many more! Read about the experiences of Janneke and Regat’s buddy families here.

Would you and your family like to become a buddy family? Or would you like to sign up as a buddy? Send an email to info@welkominutrecht.nu.

Goods and clothing

Welkom in Utrecht generally does not accept goods or clothing. We do not have storage space, and it is impossible for us to distribute items fairly among the hundreds of people in the shelters. We sometimes make exceptions, for example, if there is a demand for something very specific (in which case we will put out a call for donations) or if the donation is very special.