Tampere and SOS Children’s Villages are continuing their collaboration to promote equality in children’s and young people’s leisure activities

The City of Tampere has been a partner in SOS Children's Villages Finland’s hobby support programme since 2021. Through the ‘From Dreams to Reality’ leisure support scheme, children and young people in Tampere have been helped to take part in supervised leisure activities of their choice between 2021 and 2025, with a total of 990 grants and over 390 000 euros provided.

SOS Children’s Villages, the City of Tampere and professionals working across sectoral boundaries to support families with children have, together, been able to respond more effectively to the growing need for support for leisure activities. In 2025, 263 children and young people in Tampere were given the opportunity to start or continue their chosen leisure activities thanks to this funding.

– It’s really great that the City of Tampere has a strong commitment to supporting children’s and young people’s leisure activities in the future as well, says Kati Syrjäaho, Regional Manager for Preventive Work in Central Tampere.

In 2025, the most supported hobbies in Tampere were football, gymnastics, horse riding, basketball and martial arts. Funding was channelled to 25 different types of hobby and the activities of 70 hobby organisers. In total, across Finland, funding was channelled to over 30 different types of leisure activities and to the operations of over 750 organisations running these activities.

The City of Tampere is continuing its collaboration with SOS Children’s Villages and increasing its investment in the hobby support programme for the forthcoming contract period, so that an increasing number of children and young people in challenging circumstances can be offered equal opportunities to take part in leisure activities. Through these concrete measures, the city is taking responsibility for preventing social exclusion and loneliness and aims to increase the participation of children and young people and their sense of community.

School welfare officers have been involved throughout the scheme, helping and guiding children and young people towards the support available. Since 2025, an increasing number of other professionals who support families with children have also been involved.

– We are committed to raising awareness of the leisure support programme amongst professionals who work with children and young people, so that the support reaches low-income families with children. Finding a meaningful leisure activity is an important way of offering children and young people a sense of belonging and a sense of achievement, comments Leena Tuomainen, Coordinator and contact person for the SOS Children’s Village in the City of Tampere.

Low income and the rising cost of hobbies increase families’ need for support

The SOS Children's Villages Finland’s hobby support programme has grown to become one of Finland’s largest providers of support for children’s and young people’s leisure activities. At the same time, the rise in child poverty has increased inequality amongst children and created barriers to a good quality of life.

In 2025, a total of 3 702 children received leisure activity grants – with over 1.2 million euros paid out in grants. Over 90 percent of the grants were awarded for sports activities. Applications for the Leisure Activities Grant rose by as much as 23 percent compared with the previous year, and due to this significant increase, hundreds of children were left without support.

In 2025, applications for leisure activity grants highlighted a particular rise in concern about children’s loneliness, which is why it is hoped that children will be able to take part in leisure activities. For the first time, loneliness featured amongst the top five most common reasons for applying for support.

The positive impact of leisure activity grants is multifaceted. The grants ease the family’s financial situation and reduce concerns about the child’s well-being. Statistics show a significant increase in the number of children who feel their loneliness has decreased as a result of taking part in leisure activities. Taking part in leisure activities helps prevent feelings of exclusion and narrows the inequality gap.

– Barriers to taking part in leisure activities can be removed by increasing opportunities for children to interact and participate meaningfully in leisure activities, at school and at home, so that children do not feel excluded or lonely because they are not taking part. When applying for leisure activity grants, the main reason – apart from low income – is the hope that the activity will help the child make friends and experience a sense of belonging to a group. According to our impact survey, parents feel that taking part in a hobby has a positive impact on their child’s life, says Päivi Häikiö, Programme Manager for the hobby support programme.

Half of the respondents feel that their child’s self-esteem has improved and that they have made more friends through the activity.

The most important thing is to support children’s and young people’s right to a good everyday life

The SOS Children's Villages Finland’s hobby support programme helps children and young people from low-income families to take part in supervised leisure activities of their choice. This support is made possible through a collaborative approach, working together with donors, municipalities, professionals supporting families with children, and activity organisers.

– The most important thing about this collaborative approach is targeting support at the children and young people who need it most – those who would otherwise not have the opportunity to take part in a hobby they enjoy – so that every child’s right to a good everyday life can be realised, says Häikiö.

SOS Children’s Villages’ preventative work helps children, young people and families in many different ways. It aims, in collaboration with various organisations, to reduce inequality among children and young people, and works in partnership with, amongst others, organisations that support children through funding for leisure activities.