Sports facility usage grant

A facility usage grant can be awarded upon application to sports clubs and sports groups in pensioners and special associations that receive an operating grant for sports for the same year. The association must meet the following criteria:

1. The domicile in accordance with the association’s statutes must be Helsinki, and the activities must be open to all residents of Helsinki. The activities to be supported must mainly be directed at Helsinki residents.
2. In accordance with the Associations Act, the association must be registered with the Finnish Patent and Registration Office. The activities of the association must be well established. The association must have been in operation for one full calendar year before the grant application date. This does not apply to associations that have changed their name, divisions of associations that have been registered as independent associations or a full or partial merger of the activities of two or more associations that have previously received grants.
3. Sports clubs are required to organise sports activities as their main activity in accordance with their statutes, and the sports organisation representing the type of physical activity they carry out must be an actual member of a national central organisation for physical activities and sports and/or included in the scope of the state subsidies for national sports organisations by the Ministry of Education and Culture. Sports groups in pensioners and special associations are required to organise regular guided sports activities for their members living in Helsinki.
4. The sports club must organise regular guided physical activities for the same group at least ten times during a continuous period of three months, taking into account the nature of the activity. Sports groups in pensioners and special assocations must organise regular physical activities for the same group.
5. At least 50 of the club’s active members living in Helsinki, or alternatively at least 20 active members under the age of 20, must participate in the club’s guided regular physical activities. The regular physical activities in sports groups in pensioners and special associations must have a suitable number of participants taking into account their physical capabilities and the type of physical activity.
6. The association must comply with the principles of good governance and the ethical principles for sports communities in all its operations.

• Read the ethical principles for sports communities (pdf, in Finnish).
• Read the principles of good governance for associations (pdf, in Finnish).

Facility usage grants are awarded for activities that take place outside the sports facilities and locations owned by Sports Services. This means that the facility usage grant takes into account regular guided sessions organised in facilities owned and/or managed by other organisations and in school gyms.

To be eligible for consideration in the calculation, the facility usage must also meet the following criteria: 

1. The sports club or sports group in pensioners and special association has used a time slot for regular guided sports activities and paid rent for this.
2. The calculation will consider the association’s actual facility use in 2022. 
3. In using facilities, only regular guided training sessions organised by the association in sports facilities in the Helsinki metropolitan region that have included at least four active members and an instructor/coach will be taken into account. Sports facilities in the Helsinki metropolitan region include those located within the areas of Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo and Kauniainen. 

On a discretionary basis, the amount of the facility usage grant may take into account significant changes in the association’s use of sports facilities during the year of application. Significant changes include the merging of clubs, the joining or leaving of a division or divisions to/from the club, the association leasing a new sports facility (the lease for the said facility must be attached to the application) or the renunciation of a sports facility managed or owned by the association. The association must separately report these significant changes on the application form.

The calculation of the facility usage grant is based on the following factors: 

The calculated maximum hourly rate which determines the maximum grant amount per approved hour of facility use. One hour is 60 minutes. 

If the hourly rent paid by the association has been lower than the calculated maximum hourly rate, the amount of the actual grant will decrease accordingly. The maximum hourly rates are:

• Sports facilities and locations EUR 24 per hour
• Swimming pool lane reservations EUR 14 per hour 
• Ice time hours at an ice rink for groups under the age of 20 EUR 42 per hour 

The association does not need to consider the aforementioned calculated maximum price when reporting the rent. Instead, the application form must list the actual rent expenses. 

The calculation will weight activities for children and young people under the age of 20 as well as activities of sports groups in pensioners and special associations by a 100 percent and activities for adults by 90 percent.

In the case of a sports facility managed by the association itself, the hourly rent is calculated as follows: The rental income received by the association for its facility is deducted from the rent paid by the association. The difference (between the rent and income) is divided by the number of hours the association itself used the facilities for regular training activities, resulting in an hourly rate for the use of the facility. For facilities managed by associations themselves, the rent share of the sports facilities can be included in the hourly rent. The rent share of office, meeting and storage spaces will not be considered. 

The final amount of the facility usage grant and per-hour support will be affected by the funds apportioned for the type of grant, the association’s approved rent expenses and the number of hours approved for the calculation of the rent expenses, as well as the maximum hourly rates approved by the Sport Sub-committee for facility grants. The final facility usage grant will be determined by setting the facility usage grant calculated for the association in proportion to the share of the other applicants of the total funds available.

Clearing slots for ice hockey and figure skating juniors are not supported through this form of grant and are not to be included in the grant application.

A grant may be awarded to eligible applicants who have applied for the grant by the given deadline. The amount of the grant cannot exceed the amount applied for. If an entity receives a grant for its sports activities from other branches of the city administration, Sports Services will not provide another grant for the same activities.

Grants are meant to support activities organised by the association itself and not, for example, activities acquired by the city from the association as a purchased service or activities that are otherwise supported (e.g. by means of cooperation agreements).

Sports facility usage grants are open for application once a year. The 2023 application period is from 9 January to 15 February 2023. Grants must be applied for within the application period specified. If an application is not submitted by the deadline, it will be regarded as late and rejected.

The grant is primarily applied for through the operating and facility usage grant application form. The same application is to be used to apply for an operating grant.

Click here for instructions on how to use the e-services to apply for a grant and how to log in.

In exceptional cases, the grant application may be submitted to the City Register Office at City of Helsinki Register Office, Culture and Leisure Division/Sports, PO Box 10, FI-00099 City of Helsinki, Finland (street address: City Hall, Pohjoisesplanadi 11–13). Applications submitted to the City Register Office must arrive by 16.00 on the last day of the application period.

The application must be accompanied by the mandatory appendix on the use of sports facilities; see below for additional information.

An applicant applying for a sports facility usage grant must provide the previous year’s (2022) facility use data with a separate facility use appendix to be attached to the application. The calculation of a facility usage grant will be based on the information provided in the facility use appendix.

Facility use appendix (excel)

Decisions on sports facility usage grants are made by the Sports Sub-committee. Decisions are expected to be made in April. The grant decisions, including the instructions for appeal, will be sent for information to all applicants.

See previous decisions of the Sports Sub-committee on the page of the Sports Sub-committee.

The grant for the use of sports facilities will be paid in accordance with the grant decision into a bank account specified by the recipient. If the recipient does not have a bank account, they must open one. The City of Helsinki will only pay a grant into a bank account in the name of the recipient. 

The facility usage grant will be paid in one instalment to those whose grant amount is less than EUR 100,000 and in two instalments to those whose grant amounts to EUR 100,000 or more.

A prerequisite for the granting and payment of the grant is that there have been no discrepancies regarding any grants awarded by the city to the recipient in previous years. The city has the right to suspend the payment of a grant until the matter has been resolved if there is reason to suspect that the prerequisites for the recovery of a grant specified in Section 10 of the general grant criteria of the City of Helsinki are met.

The city has the right to set off the grant in whole or in part against a recoverable claim from the recipient.

The grant for the use of sports facilities must be used for the purpose for which it was awarded. The grant must be used for the association’s non-profit activities. The grant must be used during the year in which it was awarded, unless otherwise specified in the decision.

The grant for the use of sports facilities is based on the actual use of facilities in the previous year and related expenses. The actual usage must be indicated in the facility use appendix. Rent receipts and lease agreements must be provided upon request. A separate report on the use of the facilities is therefore not required, unless otherwise specified in the decision.

The grant cannot be used for fundraising or for business and investment expenditure, or to increase the association’s financial assets or any other long-term investments. The grant cannot be forwarded to third parties.

The recipient must notify the City of Helsinki without delay of any significant change affecting the use of the grant.

Instructions on completing the form 2023 (pdf, in Finnish)

Read more about the other documents governing the award, use and reporting of grants for sports on the Guidance and support page.

The contact details of personnel providing personalised guidance on sports grants are available on the Contact details page.