Development subsidies for sports societies were once again granted to students

This year the Ministry of Education and Culture handed out a total of 2.4 million euros in development subsidies for societies, divided among 329 projects. Three of the Finnish Student Sports Federation OLL’s member societies also received funding, and two of them had made use of the Federation’s expert help when preparing their application.

Parru ry in Lappeenranta was awarded 10,000 euros for developing their student sports and community and to start new teams. The development subsidy will be very useful for a society run by volunteers, says chairperson Olli Kohonen.

“I highly recommend that all student sports societies apply for this subsidy, and also look into other available forms of funding. We believe that more investments should be made in student sports in the future, as the wellbeing created by sports and exercise for young people is guaranteed to create savings I terms of healthcare and maintaining the wellbeing of society as a whole.”

Kohonen says that the application process was fairly straightforward, which was helped by the fact that the society had already decided what the subsidy would be used for. A thank you for all the help also goes out to OLL.

“Indispensable help from OLL”

Aalto University’s society for American football plans to use its 5,000 euro subsidy to offer students affordable opportunities to play American football and do cheerleading. The subsidy will also allow the society to invest in recruiting players and start a new women’s American football team, says Victoria Eklund, Head of Corporate Relations.

“The guidance for the application process was clear, but as a first timer it required a lot of research and clarifying the strategy for coming years. OLL gave us indispensable help in filling out the application, as this was our first time applying for such a substantial subsidy to develop the society,” Eklund says.

She says that even just applying for the subsidy helps improve the work of the society, as project planning and setting goals is always beneficial. Applying does take a lot of time, so Eklund recommends appointing a person for the job who can focus on writing a high-quality application.

At OLL’s office, events and training specialist Markku Rantahalvari is in charge of supporting societies. He advises sports clubs and societies of the Federation’s member student unions to get in touch when applying for subsidies.

“This year there has been less funding available than usual, but the Ministry liked the university societies’ good ideas for development. We have many societies who would benefit from applying for a development subsidy. It becomes significantly easier to expand and diversify your activities when you have the funds to do so,” Rantahalvari says.

More information:

Events and training specialist Markku Rantahalvari, markku.rantahalvari@oll.fi, 044 7800 217

Press release from the Ministry of Education and Culture (in Finnish)