The ‘Ski your way to Sochi’ campaign is introducing Olympic ideals to children and young people in reception centres in the Helsinki metropolitan area
In November-December, the Finnish Olympic Committee’s Olympic Academy and Niemi Services Ltd moving services have been collecting unused winter sports equipment at schools in the Helsinki metropolitan area. This equipment will be donated to children and young people at reception centres in the Helsinki and Espoo region on 17 December.
The campaign aims to offer young immigrants the opportunity to familiarise themselves with Finnish culture through sports.
Olympism promotes health and crosses cultural barriers
The organisers of the campaign want to offer children and young people in reception centres the opportunity to discover the joys of winter sports.
In order to engage in winter sports, you need equipment which asylum seeker children and families are often unable to obtain. In the campaign ‘Ski your way to Sochi’, sports gear stored in homes and still in mint condition is being collected to bring joy to reception centre residents.
The overall project is based on the principles of Olympism, a philosophy of life which combines the qualities of body, will and mind in a balanced whole. It also seeks to promote peace within communities and secure respect for human dignity.
Olympism and sport have the power to cross cultural and language barriers. Sports can also offer a shortcut to becoming a member of a new society.
Next spring, the campaign will expand nationwide
The campaign advocating the joy of sports and Olympism will continue in spring 2014 by targeting other reception centres in Finland in the run-up to the next Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, ’Fair Play on the Road to Rio’.
Further information for the media
Hanna Sarkeala, Liaison Manager, the Finnish Olympic Committee, tel. +358 (0)400 334 452,
e-mail: firstname.lastname@noc.fi
Senior Adviser Olli Snellman, Finnish Immigration Service's reception unit, tel. +358 295 430 431,
e-mail: firstname.lastname@migri.fi
