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Story of Warm Hearts
It all started with an ice swimming group, a wild dream, and 150 euros.
On one very cold morning, neighbors Frans and Elsa met by Sloterplas, Amsterdam to do their daily morning dip.
After swimming in the water someone said: “We need a sauna here”.
Elsa (being born and raised in Finland) saw this as a sign and started exploring how they could make it happen.
After meeting with several sauna owners in Amsterdam, it became clear that all shared the same dream to build the first floating sauna but none had succeeded -- yet.
The challenge was accepted!
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Being pioneers in bringing the floating sauna concept from Finland to the Netherlands wasn’t enough.
If they were going to put our hearts, sweat, and tears into this, the concept needed to align with their values, not almost but completely.
So the crazy idea was born:
Warm Hearts – the first floating sauna in the world that is fuelled by kindness.
Good for people
you don’t pay with money, you pay with good deeds. The sauna is available to you if you do a good deed for a person or the planet. Write a short piece about it, and the good news from Amsterdam will spread. Warm Hearts is attracting people from over 40 different nationalities. We are a group that's made of locals, refugees and expats. Warm Hearts offers volunteering and opportunities for newcomers to showcase their talents at our events, which they then put on their CVs. Most importantly, Warm Hearts is a place to build network, connect, and make new warm-hearted friends.
Good for the planet
the stove is heated with pellets instead of wood. The sauna is built by using environmentally friendly materials, and the raft has an electric motor. A lot of the good deeds that are done, are done in service of our beautiful planet. For instance, people picking up litter in the neighborhood, or sharing plant sprouts they have been growing on their balcony.
The dream of Warm Hearts
was said out loud at the first event in 2022 which was organized with a budget of €150 and a lot of help from our friends. We ended up having 150 visitors from 20 nationalities on that day. The magic had begun!
After two years, thanks to our kind-hearted community, Warm Hearts Sauna is chosen as one of the "gifts" for Amsterdam's 750th birthday, funded by the municipality, sponsored by several partners, and is soon ready to welcome all the good deeders on board in Amsterdam Nieuw-West.
What started as a wild idea from local residents grew into a special project for the entire city. Warm Hearts is a ‘gift that keeps on giving’ for the people of Amsterdam and beyond.
Everytime the sauna is floating on the lake, the world has been made a little better.
