The Good Holiday Spirit collection for Finnish families with children will start in November. As housing and living costs increase, an increasing number of families and children become affected by poverty.

The increase in prices has worsened the situation of low-income families with children in Finland. The number of children living in a low-income family has increased by approximately 30,000 compared to this spring.

For an increasing number of households, the increasing costs are causing a shortage of basic commodities: food, clothing and housing. For children, poverty also leads to experiences of loneliness and exclusion as a result of the child being unable to afford to participate in recreational and leisure activities like other children of their age.

These experiences are highlighted at Christmas time. The aim of the Good Holiday Spirit collection is to provide as many families as possible with a Christmas meal and a merry Christmas.

The collection brings joy to 21,000 low-income families

This year, the Good Holiday Spirit collection aims to raise €1.5 million. We will use these funds to provide 21,000 low-income families with a €70 gift voucher for food.

The collection is organised by the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare and the Finnish Red Cross in cooperation with Yle. The partners for the collection include Kesko’s grocery stores, Lidl, and the S Group’s grocery stores.

As the name suggests, the gift voucher is a gift. It cannot be requested or applied for. The Finnish Red Cross and the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare cooperate with local maternity and child health clinics, social services and church social workers to identify families in need of help.

The Good Holiday Spirit collection is now being organised for the 26th time, and a total of 377,500 gift vouchers for food have been distributed to low-income families over the course of its history. The collection will start on 17 November and continue until Christmas Eve.

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