At its meeting on Tuesday 28 April, the Sports Sub-committee of the City of Helsinki’s Culture and Leisure Committee decided on operating and facility usage grants for sports clubs and grants for other associations promoting physical activity. The call for applications for associations and clubs was open from the beginning of January until mid-February.
In the Culture and Leisure Division's 2026 budget, just over €9 million has been allocated to sports grants. From this appropriation, the Sports Sub-committee awarded grants totalling €7,474,865 to 292 organisations in April.
The operating grant is a type of grant intended to support the activities of sports clubs. Operating grants were awarded to 259 associations, with the total grant amount being €2,022,213. The facility usage grant is a type of grant aimed at supporting sports clubs to organise sports activities in facilities other than those owned by Helsinki’s Sports Services. Facility usage grants were awarded to 212 associations, with the total grant amount being €5,318,452.
The grant for other associations promoting physical activity is intended for associations that organise physical activities but do not meet the criteria for the operating grant. Grants for other associations promoting physical activity were awarded to 33 associations, with the total grant amount being €134,200.
General grant for sport to replace the operating and facility usage grants
The City of Helsinki’s overall system of sports grants will be reformed at the start of 2027. After the reform, financial support for sport activities and facility usage will be provided in the form of a general grant for sport.
More information on the grant reform will be provided at the club meeting on 18 May 2026. In addition to this, the criteria and conditions for the new general grant will be presented in more detail at grant information sessions open to all that will be held in 2026. The first grant information session will take place remotely on 2 June 2026 at 16.30–18.00. You can find the registration links for the club meeting and the grant information session below.
More information on the new general grant will also be published on the ‘Grants for sports’ page during the summer of 2026.
- Grants awarded by the Sports Sub-committee in April 2026 (in Finnish)(Link leads to external service)
- Information session on Sports Services’ grant reform 2 June (Teams)(Link leads to external service)
- Grants for sports webpage(Link leads to external service)
- News article 31 March 2026: Sports grants to be renewed in 2027
- News article 21 April 2026: Spring club meeting to take place on 18 May, come and join us!(Link leads to external service)