Local-O
In the meeting room of Local-O More than 200 visitors, participants and ‘makers’ pass through the door every week. They come there for neighborhood lunches, health activities, movie nights, theater rehearsals, a neighborhood library and a repair café. The young asylum seekers of the barracks at Soestdijk Palace hold dinner parties there. At set times there is a mountain of Lego for children and there is weekly tea and cake for those who feel like it.
The initiatives contribute to more mutual contact and inspiration, is the idea; a socio-cultural drop-in center for creative thinkers and doers, a clubhouse for people without a clubhouse. By bringing all activities under one roof, people inspire each other and talents are exchanged.
The volunteer initiative was created in 2016, when primary school Gaspard de Coligny at the Prof. Meijerslaan became empty. Local residents and other villagers set up a foundation that used the temporary space for meetings, language lessons, children’s activities, art and culture and much more.
In 2019, the collective moved to the former youth center De Boemerang. A year later, in the middle of the corona lockdowns, Lokaal-O moved into the Poorthuis. The initiators always rolled up their sleeves to furnish the new accommodation according to their wishes.