Camp grants are awarded for the purpose of organising camp activities for children and young people aged 7–16 in Helsinki during school holidays and free time. The grants can be awarded to associations in Helsinki.
Camp grants are awarded for the period 1 November–31 October. The number, duration, participants and dates of the camps are subject to specific conditions and award criteria.
Before applying for a camp grant, please read the general guidelines and conditions for grants as well as the eligibility criteria and application guidelines for each type of grant carefully.
Camp grants can be awarded to Helsinki-based associations that organise camp activities during school holidays and free time. Youth associations, sports clubs, cultural associations, etc. are all eligible for camp grants.
At least four camps must be held during the season. The camps can be overnight camps, day camps or both. An overnight camp must last for at least three consecutive nights, while a day camp must last for at least four consecutive six-hour days. Each camp must be attended by at least eight Helsinki residents aged 7–16 and must be open to all children and young people in Helsinki.
Camps held wholly or partly during school terms are not eligible for camp grants. School holidays include summer, autumn, Christmas, winter, Easter and other similar breaks.
Camp grants are not awarded to central, national or student organisations.
In special cases, the grant may also be awarded to camps that do not meet this criterion.
Grants for camp activities are awarded on the basis of the number of camp days. A camp day is calculated by multiplying the number of participants who are aged 7–16 and living in Helsinki by the duration of the camp. Arrival and departure dates count towards the length of the camp. The grants for overnight and day camps may differ.
Camp grants are available for camps that take place between 1 November and 31 October. The deadline for applying is the end of the last day of October.
The camp grant application is completed electronically through the City’s grant application e-service. The application form is open from 8 September to 31 October 2025. A registered association must confirm its identity by completing the suomi.fi e-Identification process at suomi.fi.
The necessary attachments to the application are submitted via the City’s grant application e-service.
If the applicant has already submitted a required attachment in connection with a previous grant application to the City of Helsinki, the attachment does not need to be resubmitted.
The camp grant application must be accompanied by:
- the camp Excel file, download the attachment here(Link leads to external service) (in finnish)
- the association's action plan for the coming period
- the association's budget for the coming period
- the current rules of the association
- a bank statement or a bank declaration of the account holder, which must show the name and account number of the account holder.
The camp Excel file must be attached to the application upon sending. All planned camps, numbers of participants and schedules are entered in the Excel file. Please store the Excel file in a safe place, as you will need to use the same file during the reporting phase to provide information on realised camp activities.
If necessary, additional time may be granted for the submission of other attachments by separate agreement. Any missing attachments must be submitted by the set deadline.
The Youth Sub-committee of the Culture and Leisure Committee will make the decision on the camp grants in two parts. The first decision is taken early in the year, usually in January, on the basis of the announced plans, and the second decision is taken later in the year, in November or December, on the basis of the camps that have taken place.
The first decision will be based on the applicants' plans. Approximately 50–80% of the awarded grant is usually paid in advance. A second decision will be taken at the end of the camp period on the basis of the actual number of camp days, as declared by the applicants. The grant amounts in the decisions may differ.
In practice, an applicant may receive a larger grant in the end-of-year decision than in the start-of-year decision if e.g. more camps have been organised. On the other hand, the applicant may also receive less funding if e.g. camps have been cancelled. Grants paid in advance may also be claimed back based on the end-of-year decision, if the number of camps remained significantly lower than planned or if the camps were cancelled altogether. The grants awarded cannot exceed the grants applied for.
Both decisions will be sent to the applicant by post. In addition to this, the minutes of the Youth Sub-committee meeting containing the decision are available on the City of Helsinki website.
The decisions will not be posted in the City’s grant application e-service.
The agendas for Youth Sub-committee meetings are published about a week before the meeting, and the agendas and minutes are also available on the City's website. Go to the decision-making page(Link leads to external service) (Link to external service)
A camp grant can be used towards:
- transport, material, food, communications, insurance and rent costs for camps
- hiring camp staff
- statutory and voluntary social contributions and statutory insurance related to the recruitment of camp personnel
Reporting on grant use
Recipients of the grant must report on the use of the camp grant by 31 October.
The report must be submitted using the holiday camp grant report form, which is filled in electronically in the City’s grant application e-service. The same Excel file that was used to award the grant at the planning stage must be provided as an attachment to the report.
Associations receiving holiday camp grants must itemise the income and costs of the camps as an individual cost centre in their accounts. The recipient of the grant must submit a profit and loss account showing the income and expenditure of the camps' cost centre or a report on the camps' cost centre for the camp period.
The cost centre calculation must be submitted along with the report on grant use or by the same deadline through the City’s grant application e-service. Read more about reporting on grants.
Read more general guidance on grants for youth activities.
Read more about guidance and support for grants for youth activities.
Please contact the planners in the Youth Services Partnership Unit if you have any questions or concerns about youth activity grants.