After President Niinistö and Mrs. Jenni Haukios state visit to Sweden - Ukrainian Children Activity Center opens in Helsinki

The activity center aims to give children between the ages of 6-12 a safe start in Finland and to get to know Finnish society in an organized way. The center is financed through donations from the Finnish and Swedish business community with companies like Stora Enso, Wärtsilä, Roschier, StaffPoint and Novare and all employees come from Ukraine. 

On 17-18 May 2022, a historic state visit was made by President Niinistö and Mrs. Jenni Haukio to Sweden. During the visit, Mrs. Haukio together with H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden, visited an activity center for Ukrainian children at the Nordic Museum in Stockholm. Mrs. Haukio mentioned during the meeting that it would be interesting if a similar center could be opened in Helsinki. It is now clear that Beredskapslyftet will open the Ukrainian Children Activity Center for 140 Ukrainian children at Kansallismuseo - the National Museum of Finland in Helsinki. The center will open on July 5th and run until the 12th of August. It will be Beredskapslyftet's first international initiative after implementing a number of initiatives in Sweden for two years.

Kansallismuseo will host the center and provide support in the form of amenities, lunches and supporting staff. They will also use their extensive network to organize activities. 

- When we were asked to participate in this center we were thrilled about this possibility. We have been looking for different ways to support this vulnerable group. It is our pleasure to help by providing our expertise and a safe and creative space for learning, says director general Elina Anttila at Kansallismuseo. 

- We are very pleased to open a center in Finland, says Edvard Horelli at Fairchild Executive Search, one of the initiators of the center in Helsinki. We work closely with Beredskapslyftet in Sweden and will work in the same way: we make our network available and arrange the financing while our newly arrived Ukrainian employees lead the project and carry out the practical work.

Denys Gordiyenko is the project manager for the center and came from Ukraine this spring:

- The center will make it possible for children to enter Finnish society peacefully and safely, and will also enable their parents to settle in and look for work. I'm very grateful for all the support we are receiving, especially from Kansallismuseo who welcomes us with open arms, enabling us to help the children that need it the most. 

Malin Leffler is chair of Beredskapslyftet and Partner at Roschier Attorneys:

- When the idea came up, we quickly investigated the possibilities of creating a center in Helsinki. The response from the business community has been fantastic and when the Kansallismuseo said yes, it was an easy decision for us.    

Contact

National Museum of Finland - Kansallismuseo: Sanna Valoranta-Saltikoff, tel. +358 295 33 6270, sanna.valoranta-saltikoff@kansallismuseo.fi 
Beredskapslyftet: David Löfvendahl, +46 76 114 56 01, David.lofvendahl@novare.se 
 

About Ukrainian Children Activity Center - Helsinki
The purpose of the center is to create a safe start for Ukrainian children and give them an introduction to Finnish society. By mixing play, sport activities, lessons in Finnish as well as excursions, a stimulating environment is created where the children get the chance to be children. It also enables parents to create structure around their life in Finland and look for work and housing. 

About Beredskapslyftet 
Beredskapslyftet started in 2020 in Sweden as a platform for mobilizing  projects that included support for the healthcare and the school sector during the pandemic. Today, Beredskapslyftet is a non-profit organization that, among other things, runs several projects for Ukrainian refugees and network programs for young people.