New Youth Council and Youth Budget announced at the Youth Gala
Helsinki celebrated the influence of young people at the traditional Youth Gala held at Tiivistämö in Suvilahti on Thursday 7 December. The Gala also saw the announcement of the results of the Helsinki Youth Council election and the allocation of EUR 150,000 from the Youth Budget to implement young people’s ideas.
The Youth Council election included a total of 92 young people from different parts of Helsinki as candidates. Out of these candidates, 30 were chosen as representatives and 5 were chosen as deputy representatives for a two-year term in 2024–2025. The new Youth Council will begin its term on 1 January 2024.
Over 31,000 young people were eligible to vote in the election, with the total number of votes cast being 11,107. The turnout percentage was highest at Puistola Comprehensive School, where 95.22% of the approximately 250 pupils voted.
The Helsinki Youth Council for the 2024–2025 term:
1. Lilja Hyppölä
2. Lassi Biström
3. Harry Fogelholm
4. Jasmine Lam
5. Jing Le Xu
6. Abigail Suero
7. Lazima Rahman
8. Rosa Kumar Saarinen
9. Aamir Mohamed
10. Aaro Ekman
11. Kerem Eren
12. Emilia Huikko
13. Nancy Li
14. Marcus Anttila
15. Fia Hirvonen
16. Danil Denisov
17. Maggie Mattson
18. Eino Missi
19. Oona Laine
20. Veikko Valovirta
21. Ehan Wadud
22. Karl-Fredrik Spolander
23. Nikolai Kovalenko
24. Shyreen Joarder
25. Lukas Savinen
26. Kerttu Arnkil
27. Mark Ikonen
28. Rokey Sabally
29. Emma Rautaoja
30. Aisha Mahmood
Deputy representatives: Chloé Mboyo, Wiida Jawadi, Anna Tulkki, Diana Åkerlund, Artem Sergeyev
EUR 150,000 from the Youth Budget allocated to implement young people’s ideas.
The evening also saw the allocation of EUR 150,000 from Helsinki’s participatory budgeting system for young people, i.e. the Youth Budget, to projects proposed and chosen by young people. The sum was divided evenly between the City’s Eastern, Western and Northern Youth Work.
Eastern Youth Work
- Free gig for young people Festival (Itäkeskus & Southeastern) EUR 10,000
- Events in Kontula! (Kontula) EUR 11,750
- Extreme sports trials and experiences for young people! (Kontula) EUR 8,000
- Studio for the Rastila Youth Centre (Vuosaari) EUR 10,000
- Rescue animal event (Environmental Activities Unit) EUR 3,500
- Escape rooms and trips (Itäkeskus) EUR 6,750
Western Youth Work
- Free-of-charge sports and hobby trials in the inner city (Southern) EUR 3,000
- Football tournament (Munkkiniemi) EUR 5,000
- En dag på Borgbacken (Helsingfors svenska ungdomsarbetsenhet) EUR 6,000
- Lapplandsresa (Helsingfors svenska ungdomsarbetsenhet) EUR 7,500
- Cosplay event & RPD (Munkkiniemi) EUR 6,000
- Self-defence for young people (Haaga) EUR 4,000
- Peer groups (Haaga) EUR 4,000
- Computer building course (Kaarela) EUR 3,500
- Horseback riding courses (Kaarela) EUR 6,500
- Sound-proofed karaoke room for the youth centre (Southern) EUR 4,500
Northern Youth Work
- Trip activities (Viikki) EUR 5,000
- Trip to Linnanmäki (Northeast) EUR 8,000
- Karting trips (Malmi & Northeast) EUR 8,000
- Dream to be rich – work for young people! Summer job opportunities (Malmi & Maunula) EUR 11,000
- Trip to encounter rural culture (Pasila) EUR 6,000
- Season Festival (Pasila) EUR 8,000
- Amazing race (Maunula) EUR 4,000
Further information
Eveliina Laine, participatory activity coordinator, eveliina.laine@hel.fi
Ella Tanskanen, participatory activity planner, ella.tanskanen@hel.fi