The City of Helsinki will be organising a youth help operation in Helsinki city centre and nearby areas in the evening and night of the last day of school, 5 June. The purpose of the operation is to reach out to and help young people under the age of 18 not only through discussion, for example, but also by providing first aid on the streets and directing people to medical treatment, when necessary.
Helsinki city centre and other areas popular among young people will be patrolled by several foot patrols on the last day of school. The operation will begin at 15:00 and continue as necessary for as long as there are young people about.
“The last day of school is an important celebration for young people, even amid coronavirus restrictions. With this help operation, we want to make sure that young people can celebrate safely and find help, if necessary. The end of the school year can also be celebrated at home or close to home in small groups,” says the head of the operation Jaakko Rautavaara from the City of Helsinki’s Youth Unit.
There are approximately 100 people involved in the help operation. The operation is being organised by the City of Helsinki Youth Unit in cooperation with the Helsinki and Uusimaa districts of the Finnish Red Cross, Saapas Operations, Children of the Station, the youth services of the Cities of Vantaa and Espoo, Snellu special youth work services of the Helsinki parishes, the police and first aid services.
These types of collaborative operations have become a tradition in Helsinki, with the first youth help operations organised as far back as the early 1980s. The operations have traditionally taken place in the evening of and night following May Day and New Year’s Eve and since the 90s on the last day of school as well.
The City is also organising interesting online activities for young people on the last day of school in the form of various virtual events. It is hoped that these events will help young people find new ways of celebrating the end of the school year in a peaceful manner, avoiding large gatherings in accordance with coronavirus restrictions.