Havendinners

The Amsterdam Hub is working to advance refugee integration in The Netherlands by connecting refugees with locals and encouraging learning and understanding. Every Monday since November 2015, the hub introduces 100 refugees to 20 locals in Amsterdam, during a fun dinner and dance evening.

Every week, the event is sponsored by a different stakeholder, who pays for the dinner and invites 20 guests (employees, partners, friends) to spend the evening with refugees. The hub relies on 30 volunteers (mostly refugees) who cook the food, staff the bar, and make the evening a success.

Since the start of the project, the hub has organised over 130 dinners and has already planned the upcoming next 20. The hub has also partnered with schools, to get students involved with education programmes. The initiative is actively supported by the Municipality of Amsterdam, the Dutch Refugee Council, and several other national refugee organisations. Out of the initiative, 60 refugees have found employment (directly through an evening’s sponsor or thanks to the learnings from their volunteer work).