The special grant for youth activities to prevent segregation is intended to support projects that prevent segregation in Helsinki’s districts between population groups and neighbourhoods. This grant supports project activities in the areas of suburban regeneration (Malminkartano and Kannelmäki, Mellunkylä, and Meri-Rastila) that aim to promote positive encounters between population groups, hobby opportunities and support work ability.
Grant applications are accepted twice per year – in the spring and autumn. The application period for spring 2025 is 17 March – 6 April 2025. The application period for autumn will be announced later on this page as well as in the Youth Services partner letter.
This grant is available to non-profit associations and youth action groups in Helsinki. Recipients must have demonstrable experience of organising youth activities.
The target groups for projects under this special grant are the young adolescents (9–12 years old) and young adults (18–24 years old) – primarily in the areas of suburban regeneration. The objective of any activity to be supported must be to boost positive encounters between population groups and access to hobby activities, especially for girls from immigrant backgrounds, as well as to promote work ability for young adults. Discretionary grants may be possible for other areas where youth participation in hobbies and hobby opportunities are lower than the city average.
Grants may focus on the applicants’ activities, development work and to create new operating methods that promote access to hobby opportunities in cooperation with communities and other operators and promote work ability for young adults. Preparation and evaluation of applications focuses on projects that introduce new kinds of partnerships and operating models in the area.
Recipients are required to submit a report on the use of the grant and an impact assessment. This grant can be awarded for projects that last under one year as well as multi-year projects. However, the maximum duration of these projects is limited to three years. With multi-year grants, the project results should be evaluated annually and included in the following year’s application. In multi-year projects, the grant must be applied for one year at a time, with a note on the application of the multi-year nature of the project.
Applications for special grants for youth activities in 2025 are open in the spring and the autumn. The application period for this spring is 17 March – 6 April 2025. The application period for autumn will be announced later on this page as well as in the Youth Services partner letter. Applications (with attachments) must be sent by the deadline.
is completed through the city’s electronic grant application service. Registered associations must identify through Suomi.fi e-Identification. The application form for the special grant for youth activities becomes available in the Apply for grant section of this page after you log in to the service.
Click here(Link leads to external service) for instructions on how to use the electronic service to apply for a grant and how to log in.
Attachments are submitted via the City of Helsinki e-services.
If the applicant has submitted a required attachment to the City of Helsinki in connection with a previous grant application, it is not necessary to include the attachment for a second time.
An application for a special grant for youth activities requires the following attachments:
Applicant is an association:
• project budget
• project action plan
• full action plan of the association (for the grant period)
• full budget of the association (for the grant period)
• current rules of the association
• copy of a bank statement or the bank’s confirmation of the account holder
Applicant is a youth action group:
• project budget
• project action plan
• copy of a bank statement or the bank’s confirmation of the account holder
If the project spans multiple years, the application must also include an evaluation plan for the project activities.
You may be asked to include other attachments during the application process, which must be submitted by the given deadline.
The Youth Sub-committee decides on applications for grants exceeding €3,000. The Partnership Manager of Youth Services decides on applications of up to €3,000.
The decision will be sent to the applicant by post. The Youth Sub-committee’s meeting minutes (which include the decision) or the Partnership Manager’s decision will also be available on the City of Helsinki’s website. The Youth Sub-committee’s meeting agendas are published approximately one week before the meeting, and the agendas, minutes and official decisions can also be found on the city’s website.
Open the Youth Sub-committee decision-making page(Link leads to external service) (link to external service)
Open the Partnership Manager’s decision-making page(Link leads to external service) (link to external service)
You cannot view the decisions on the city’s electronic grant application service.
The grant provider decides the eligible expenses. This means that the special grant can only be used for the expenses specified in the decision. If the decision only states that the grant is for the costs of the project in question, it only applies to the costs stated in the application and/or its attachments as the purpose of the grant.
We can only approve project expenses for the period for which the grant has been awarded in the decision. The decision always specifies how and when you must report the use of the special grant. For example, if there is a delay in the grant project schedule, and you require a longer period to use the grant, the grant applicant must contact the Partnerships Unit before the deadline for reporting.
After the project ends, use of the grant must be reported by the date specified in the grant decision. Supported projects must have a separate cost centre in the association’s financial statements. Additionally, the receiver of the grant must be ready to report on the project’s results in accordance with the grant decision.
If you do not provide an adequate report on how the grant was used within the deadline, the grant may be recovered. Please bear in mind that, per the City of Helsinki’s general grant allocation guidelines, the grant provider has the right to request all the information, documents and reports required to verify the use of the grant. If specifically requested, the grant recipient is thus obligated to provide information beyond what is specified in the decision.