Sports: price change transition grant

The grant can be applied for by Helsinki-based associations that used the sports facilities of the Sports Services Unit or the City of Helsinki schools in 2025.

The grant is based on an estimated cost increase of associations following the changes brought about by the price reform. The estimate is calculated based on an applicant's facility use in 2025 according to the following factors:

• estimated change in costs resulting from changes in rental prices for sports facilities in the City of Helsinki's schools and those of the Sports Services Unit
• estimated change in the facility usage grant resulting from the end of the City of Helsinki schools' eligibility for subsidies on 1 June 2026.

The grant amount is determined by comparing an applicant's increase in costs to the increases experienced by other applicants, as well as to the available budget. The minimum cost increase to be taken into account is €200.

The combined share of the operating, facility usage and price change transition grants may be at most 80 percent of the eligible costs of the association's non-profit sports activities in 2026. Loan repayments, interest, depreciation, impairments, reservations or other calculated items that are not based on actual expenses are not considered eligible costs.

In addition to the granting criteria, the instructions and regulations issued by the Sports Services and the grant decision, grant recipients must comply with the following decisions, guidelines and regulations:

• The City of Helsinki's general guidelines on grants(Link leads to external service) (City Board, 7 April 2025, section 222)
• The City of Helsinki's ethical partnership principles for grant allocation and cooperation with organisations (City Board, 7 April 2025, section 222)
• The Culture and Leisure Division's shared grant allocation principles(Link leads to external service) (Culture and Leisure Committee, 12 December 2023, section 178)
• Current legislation
• The recommendation on good governance for associations(Link leads to external service) (in Finnish)
• Fair play – Ethical principles for the sports community(Link leads to external service) (in Finnish)

The grant application period is from 1 May to 26 June 2026.

The grant is applied for by logging in to the grant service and completing the application form Liikunta, yleisavustushakemus ("Sports, general grant application"). Select Muu ("Other") as the grant type. The link to the form will be visible during the application period on the left side of this page for users logged in as a registered organisation. If necessary, you can review the instructions for using the grant service, including login instructions.

The form must be submitted by the application deadline. Applications arriving after the deadline will be rejected.

Under special circumstances, the grant application can be submitted to the City of Helsinki Register Office ( more detailed instructions(Link leads to external service)).

If the applicant has not previously applied for a City of Helsinki grant or if their information has changed, the following attachments must be submitted with the application:

• statutes of the association
• the bank's notice of the account holder or a copy of the bank statement
• extract from the Register of Associations
• the latest approved (signed) financial statements, annual report and audit report (financial or operational)
• action plan and budget for the application year.

The decision to award the grant is made by the Sports Sub-committee. The aim is to make the decisions in August. All grant applicants are sent the grant decision with appeal instructions by post.

Grants are paid in one instalment in accordance with the grant decision, using the payment details provided by the recipient. Applicants must have a Finnish bank account to which the grant will be paid. The City of Helsinki only pays grants into a bank account in the recipient's name.

The granting and payment of the grant is conditional on there having been no irregularities in the grants previously awarded to the applicant by the City. If there is reason to suspect that the requirements for recovering a grant are fulfilled, as described in Section 10 of the City of Helsinki's general grant criteria, the City has the right to suspend the payment of an awarded grant while the matter is being investigated.

The City has the right to offset the awarded grant, in whole or in part, against any receivable it is entitled to collect from the grant recipient.

The grant must be used by the end of 2026. The grant cannot be used for costs that are financed by the City of Helsinki in any other way.

The use of the grant must be explained on a separate report form by 31 May 2027. The grant may be recovered if its use has not been explained or if the grant has not been used in accordance with the guidelines. The report must be accompanied by the 2026 financial statements (signed), the annual report and the operational audit report (signed).

The grant recipient must immediately notify the City of Helsinki of any significant changes affecting the use of the grant.

For a summary of other documents governing the awarding, use and reporting of sports grants, see the Guidance and Support page.

For personalised advice on sports grants, please visit the Contact Details page.