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The regular delivery rounds are a local project within The Owl’s Nest at the Paul Krugerstraat location. Volunteers from this location have walked regular routes through Haarlem North since 2017. The project consists of actually carrying out delivery rounds. Within that recurring practical activity, responsibility, participation, social interaction and contact throughout the neighbourhood come together.
The first route, at the time district 202105 within the then-current district system used by Netwerk VSP, originated from support for someone for whom a concrete and recurring activity outside the home could help with motivation, social interaction and participation. It involved actual distribution work: there was material that had to be delivered, there were fixed addresses and there was responsibility for a route that returned every week. Support was provided where needed. The modest payment attached to that first route remained with the person being supported in that situation as a personal encouragement.
The scale and practical implementation of the project have changed since then. For many years, the volunteers covered the area from the Schotersingel to the Zaanenlaan and from the Delftlaan to the Spaarndamseweg. The regular area is now slightly smaller (no longer between the Delftlaan and the Marnixstraat), but routes are still walked through a large part of Haarlem North and occasionally beyond it, for example when covering for other deliverers or when an additional district is covered for a local business or organisation.
The material distributed during the routes is supplied by the organisations and businesses for whom the delivery is carried out. At present this mainly consists of the Spotta leaflet bundles requested through the digital letterbox sticker at inmijnbus.nl, including the personalised Folderkiezer bundles for individual addresses. Leaflets are also distributed for local businesses, political parties, charities and associations. At different times, routes have been carried out for Netwerk VSP, Buijze Pers, Rodi Media and Reclamediensten De Schakel, which was later taken over by All-Inn Verspreidingen.
Which addresses receive material differs by delivery assignment and by type of distribution. The addresses at which something must be delivered determine the specific assignment and partly determine the route that is walked, but they do not determine who the volunteers meet along the way. During the routes, the volunteers move through public space and encounter residents, neighbours, passers-by, other delivery workers and people who are working outside, around their homes or at other places along the route. A conversation, practical question or other contact therefore does not have to be connected with receiving a leaflet or bundle.
For carrying out a delivery assignment, the client pays ASK-Solutions. The material to be distributed, the agreed area or route and the actual delivery of that material form part of that specific assignment. The participation and contacts that arise while walking are part of the everyday practice of those same delivery rounds; they are not a separate group defined by the delivery assignment.
Residents and other people who know or meet the volunteers along the routes sometimes also choose to give an amount to the foundation, for example during a round or around the holidays. No delivery or other consideration is provided in return. Such a contribution is separate from the payment made by a client for a delivery assignment and is treated as a gift or donation to the foundation.
The routes are deliberately walked on foot using the project’s own delivery cart. This suits the practical way the project is carried out and means that the volunteers repeatedly pass through the same streets. Someone who walks over the same pavements and past the same front stoops and front doors every week gets to recognise faces, notices changes in the neighbourhood and can easily have a brief conversation with someone along the way.
At first, the routes were walked with a simple cart. Over the years it has been improved step by step. Stronger side panels were added, the wheels were replaced with solid rubber ones and 3D-printed brackets were made to secure everything more effectively. 3D-printed dust and splash guards were designed for the wheel bearings, making it more difficult for dirt and rain to reach the bearings.
The delivery cart has therefore also become a technical development within the project. When practical use shows that something is inconvenient, insufficiently strong or not durable enough, ways of improving it are investigated. Practical thinking, repair, 3D printing, modification and testing are used to continue developing the cart for the work for which it is actually used.
Because volunteers have walked through the same neighbourhoods for so many years, they now recognise a large number of people and sometimes know them by name. These are not only people at addresses where something happens to be delivered at that moment. Contact also develops with neighbours, passers-by, people working outside, other delivery workers and others whom the volunteers regularly encounter along the way.
Some contacts remain a greeting or a short conversation; others develop over time. Someone may ask a practical question along the route, return to the subject during a later encounter or eventually come to The Owl’s Nest with a specific request for help. Conversely, someone already known at the location may be encountered again during a route. The address list for a delivery assignment therefore does not determine who can or cannot become part of the contact that occurs throughout the neighbourhood.
Small forms of practical help sometimes arise along the way as well: taking a bag of rubbish to a container, posting a letter, passing on a message or briefly helping with something small. Encounters with people who are themselves working can also form part of this, for example when other delivery workers happen to walk in the same direction for part of a route and information or practical help is exchanged along the way.
These recurring contacts also make changes in people’s lives visible over time. Volunteers have seen people become ill and later recover, but have also had to miss people who died at an advanced age or because of illness. Over the years, people, encounters and stories therefore become connected with streets, homes, shops and other places along the routes.
Someone who walks through the same streets week after week also notices changes in public space. This may involve litter accumulating, damage or vandalism, recurring nuisance or a situation in the street that needs attention. Small matters are cleaned up or dealt with directly where possible.
For larger or concerning situations, volunteers can pass on a signal through the usual channels or point someone towards a place where appropriate help or information is available. Their recurring presence in the same streets also makes it easy for people to mention something along the way, ask a question or draw attention to a concern.
Over the years, the volunteers have also got to know many four-legged residents. In many streets there are cats that now recognise the cart and the people walking with it. Some regularly come over to the cart for a stroke and a brief moment of attention. Some belong to local residents; others roam around without it being clear during the route who they belong to.
Where possible, the volunteers also respond practically to what they encounter in this respect. A few cats have been helped to find a new home or returned to their owner. An injured animal may also be noticed and reported to people or organisations able to do something about it. These are small things that naturally occur when you regularly pass through the same streets and pay attention to what you encounter along the way.
In 2025, an article about the delivery route and the contact throughout the neighbourhood was published on the platform De Rode Daken. It describes what it is like to walk through the same neighbourhoods year after year, the encounters that result and what the delivery rounds and the contact along the way look like in practice. You can find the article here: Laura en Bianca - Derodedaken.nl.
Within the implementation of The Owl’s Nest, individual local projects can develop at a location based on what is practical and relevant there. The regular delivery rounds are one such project at the Paul Krugerstraat location. Volunteers from the location carry out the routes; arrangements with clients and payments for delivery assignments are processed through ASK-Solutions.
Carrying out the routes forms the practical core of the project. The routes repeatedly take the volunteers through public space and past a wide range of people and places. The recurring responsibility, participation and contacts throughout the neighbourhood arise within that practical work. Small forms of practical help along the way, attention to what is happening in the surroundings and technical developments such as modifying and maintaining the delivery cart also grow out of the everyday practice of the routes.
Around the holidays, the volunteers ring the doorbells at many addresses to hand over a Christmas card and exchange a few personal words. Because of the large number of addresses, it is not possible to find everyone at home. Other people who do not themselves receive any material are also encountered along the way. The welcome, conversations and Christmas cards people give in return show how many different contacts have become connected with the routes. Some people also choose to make a gift to the foundation at that time.
If you would like to know more about how this local project fits within The Owl’s Nest and the activities at its locations, also see About The Owl’s Nest and Sharing knowledge.
If you would like to support the work of the foundation, for example because you know the volunteers from the delivery rounds, you can find more information on the Support us page. For questions or ideas, you can send a message through Make an appointment.
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