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2. Description of the activities and funding of the youth organisations in partner countries

2.1 Finland

The Finnish National Youth Council Allianssi
Suomen nuorisoalan kattojärjestö Allianssi
www.nuorisoala.fi


2.1.1 Youth activities in general

 There are three main actors carrying out youth activities in Finland: youth organisations, municipal youth services and the parishes (church child and youth work).
Youth organisations
In terms of the number of NGOs, in 2022 there are 117 organisations that are eligible for the state subsidies. Out of these, 95 received government grants in 2022, altogether 18.6 million euros (varying from 10 000 to 1.47 million euros). These organisations are classified into 4 different categories (figures from 2021):
  • youth organisations (46) – at least ⅔ of the members are young people under 29 years of age
  • organisations with youth activities (1) – some of the activities are youth-led
  • organisations engaging in youth work (51) – some of the activities are youth work and they can be differentiated from the other activities

Municipal youth work
There are 309 municipalities in Finland. According to the Youth Act, municipalities are obligated to organise youth work activities. However, they can fairly independently decide what kind of youth activities they organise and how much resources they invest in them. The same Youth Act, however, stipulates that to ensure youth participation, every municipality has to have a youth council and has to provide this council with adequate resources.
There are almost 1 000 youth work facilities in Finland and over 3 000 paid staff members in municipal youth work. However, the trend in recent years has been that there are less “traditional” youth work activities (such as youth clubs, cultural facilities, camps, etc.) and more targeted youth work, workshops, mobile youth work that goes where the young people are (schools, commercial centres, etc.), outreach youth work, digital youth work, international activities, etc. Participation and advocacy work is also an important part of youth services. Youth work has also developed towards a more professional and multidisciplinary direction.
Church youth work
The (Evangelical Lutheran) Church of Finland is another important actor in youth work. They have about 1 200 paid staff members doing youth work in parishes all over the country. They organise e.g. confirmation schools and camps and morning and afternoon activities for schoolchildren and work closely together with NGOs, such as the Guides and Scouts of Finland.

2.1.2 Financing

The funding of national youth organisations and other organisations doing youth work comes for the most part from the state budget. In past decades, most of this funding has been based on the income that the national lottery monopoly (Veikkaus) has produced. The annual income of Veikkaus has been about 1 billion euros, and the share of youth work has been 5% of this (about 50 million euros). The total amount of national financing for youth work has been about 80 million, so the difference of 30 million has been financed from the general state budget. The share of youth organisations is 18.6 million of the total funding at the moment.
However, changes will shortly be made to this funding framework which has, in the past two or three decades, been very positive for youth work actors. Due to several factors (the pandemic, the competition of foreign gambling operators, etc.), the income produced by Veikkaus has decreased quite dramatically. It has been decided that from 2024 onwards the money produced by Veikkaus will no longer be earmarked for any beneficiaries (art, science, sport, youth work, etc.) but will go to the general state budget, and after that the funding of these beneficiaries will be decided like any other budget item. 
However, most of the public funding for youth work comes from the municipalities. The annual expenditure of municipalities for youth work is about 202 million euros or, on average, 117 euros for each young person under 29 years of age. In addition to their own activities, the municipalities also fund local youth NGOs.
The Church of Finland, on the other hand, spends about one third of its budget (330 million euros) on child and youth work. 
In addition to public funding, many youth organisations do a lot of fundraising from the private sector. This is true especially for the bigger and well-established organisations. There is also a lot of project funding from several ministries, regional offices and especially from the European Union (Erasmus+ and other programmes).
In general, youth organisations were quite satisfied with their funding. In a recent study, more than 80% of them reported that their funding is good, rather good or reasonable. However, about half of them were worried about the recent developments in funding and about the risks that the future might bring, especially when it comes to the development of the state subsidies and the general political instability.  

2.1.3 National umbrella organisation

The Finnish Youth Council – Allianssi is the national umbrella organisation in Finland. It was founded in 1992 to continue the work of three separate service organisations: one was responsible for (mainly the international) cooperation of youth organisations, one provided services for municipal youth workers and one worked with schools and teachers. As a result of this history, Allianssi remains to this day perhaps slightly different from most other European youth councils as we work for and with the entire field of youth work, not just our member organisations. This includes municipal and church youth workers, youth researchers, (youth work) educational institutions, etc.
Allianssi has 25 paid staff members and our annual budget is about 2 million euros, two thirds of which we get as a subsidy from the Ministry of Education and Culture. Our members consist of 150 national youth-related organisations, which include most youth organisations and several other organisations doing youth work. We do not have official categories, but our members include e.g. political youth, children and student organisations, non-political student organisations, hobby organisations, trade unions, organisations for disabled youth and other minorities, international organisations and many others. We used to also have individual persons (mainly youth workers) as members, but we removed this category a couple of years ago. Our target group is all the people who are working with young people, whether professionally or as volunteers. We also have some activities directly for young people but we mainly work with mediators in NGOs or other youth work services.
We are now also aiming to get municipalities and parishes to become our members (without voting rights) but so far with no results.     
Our vision is that young people are doing well and they feel that they are part of the society and equal members of it. The main tasks of Allianssi are
  • to advocate for young people; this may mean youth work resources, participation, equality, education, work, free time, etc.
  • to unite the youth work field; we organise meetings, conferences and other events for all those involved in youth work
  • to provide services; we organise trainings, information and other activities for all those involved in youth work
Allianssi’s main values are cooperation (working together with all the actors in the youth sector), equality (all young people are equal), participation (young people feel that they are part of the society) and sustainability (ecological, social, cultural and economic). 
Allianssi is also very active in international youth work. We are members of the European Youth Forum (YFJ), the European Youth Card Association (EYCA) and European Youth Information and Counselling Agency (ERYICA) and the Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisations. We are the coordinating body of the EU Youth Dialogue in Finland. Allianssi also nominates several young people every year to be our international youth delegates in different frameworks and themes (UN, UNESCO EU, climate, nature, working life youth delegates). 

2.1.4 Advocacy work

Allianssi has a target programme related to advocacy work, which is updated annually. It has 8 topics which are the priorities of our advocacy work. This target programme is approved in our annual meeting by our member organisations.
  1. Development and education
  2. Employment
  3. Social security
  4. Participation
  5. Equality
  6. Youth work resources
  7. Health
  8. Environment
There are a number of ways in which this advocacy work is done. Just to mention a few examples, we make statements, organise seminars and campaigns, contact decision-makers, take part in working groups, provide information, make our own election programmes, etc. The level of advocacy work among our member organisations varies a lot and we discuss issues with them when we decide our positions on different topics. It is clear that many of the member organisations concentrate on issues that are important to their members, e.g. student organisations concentrate on student issues and the NGOs for sexual minorities concentrate on the rights of these minorities. Allianssi uses the expertise of these organisations when dealing with these issues and we try to support them as much as possible in their own advocacy work.
On a more general level, we train the young activists of different youth organisations in order to give them tools and know-how about how the political system works and what are the best ways to get their voices heard.
The main challenge is perhaps that youth work is quite a small sector in society (0.1% of the state budget), and that the impact of our work cannot necessarily be seen in the short term. Our voices cannot be heard as loudly as the ones that come for instance from the cultural or sport sector.    

2.1.5 Participation of young people in association activities

According to our Youth Act, a young person is a person under 29 years of age. Most youth organisations, however, concentrate on certain natural age groups, e.g. young people aged 15–26 years of age. We also have a lot of organisations that aim their activities at children.
In the past decades there has been a decline in the number of young people belonging to youth associations. This decline has been even bigger when it comes to political youth organisations but it has also affected non-political organisations. There are many explanations for this. Youth cohorts are getting smaller. On the other hand, youth organisations have developed their member data systems and have e.g. “phased out” older members. Also, the ways of participation have changed a lot. Instead of joining a youth NGO, young people may choose other ways of participation (social media, pop-up activities, consumer choices, etc.).

2.2 Norway

The Norwegian Children and Youth Council
Landsrådet for Norges barn- og ungdomsorganisasjoner, LNU
www.lnu.no
 

2.2.1 Youth activities in general  

There is no official, national register of how many children and youth organisations there are in Norway. LNU has taken measures to create an official register and is in dialogue with the central government regarding this. We hope to achieve this eventually. However, LNU has 102 member organisations and categorises these in four groups. These categories also account for the majority of youth activities in Norway:   
Culture, outdoor activity and leisure organisations 
Examples of organisations in this category are the Norwegian Scout Association, the “youth and leisure” organisation and the Choir organisation. These organisations focus on leisure activities such as music, nature-based experiences and cultural experiences.  
Belief-based organisations 
Examples of organisations in this category are the organisation for young Catholics, the youth wing of the Salvation Army and the Humanist association. Although not all of them are based on a religious belief, many of them are.  
Political/societal organisations 
Here we find all of the political youth organisations, but also organisations that work with issues of a societal, and not necessarily political, nature. Examples of the latter category include the youth wing of the Norwegian Association of Disabled, organisations working with LGBTI+ related issues and “Youth Mental Health”. Thus, not all organisations have an ideological side, but they are engaged in the public debate surrounding the themes they work with.  
Student and pupil organisations   
Examples here include the Association of Norwegian Students Abroad, the national pupils’ organisation and the Norwegian Student Organisation. Youth activities in Norway come in a variety of shapes and forms and are performed by many different organisations. What the members of LNU have in common is that they, despite focusing on different topics, consist mostly of young people and that they are based on volunteer work. They are democratic in the sense that it is the young people themselves who decide the activities and themes they work with. The activities they engage in are called youth work or children and youth work.  

2.2.2 Financing   

The financial situation of youth organisations in Norway is good overall, although it varies from organisation to organisation. The organisations are mainly funded through two different funding schemes, as well as through the national state budget. Political youth parties are funded separately, as will be explained in the last paragraph of this section.  
The first funding scheme is “Grunnstøtta” (basic support), in which democratic and voluntary organisations can apply for funding for the upcoming year. The amount of financial support each organisation receives is then decided by a distribution committee, and not by the government and/or incumbent parties. This is done to ensure that all organisations who are eligible to apply get the same chance to receive funding regardless of their relationship with the incumbent government. This is called the principle of “arm’s length distance”.    
The second funding scheme is called “FriFond” (free fund). This is the surplus from the national betting company, and there are no current plans to change this. The betting surplus is divided between different organisations, some of them member organisations of LNU. In addition to this, LNU gets a portion of FriFond that we then redistribute to our member organisations. Our members can apply for funding for different projects – everything from members’ nights to seminars and social events. LNU then decides, based on a set of criteria, which organisations and/or projects are granted funding.  
The national state budget also plays a role, but not all organisations get funding from this. The government typically prioritises a few select organisations, for example ones that work with current and relevant affairs. Most organisations however, do not receive direct funding in Norway, but have to go through funding schemes. 
The political youth parties receive funding from the national state budget through “stemmestøtte” (voting support). How much an organisation receives is decided by how many votes their mother party got in the last election. They can also receive extra funding from their mother party. Private donations are not a big part of organisational funding in Norway. If a private donation is received, it must be documented thoroughly for tax purposes.

2.2.3 National umbrella organisation

The Norwegian Children and Youth Council (Landsrådet for Norges barne- og ungdomsorganisasjoner, LNU) is the national umbrella organisation. It was officially founded in 1980, but it was built on a 30-year tradition of international youth work. Starting in 1951, initiatives were taken to build more cooperation between youth across European borders. In the next decades, it was decided to start working within Norway as well. LNU was born out of the experiences with international cooperation, and the decision was made to found a national umbrella organisation that could combine international and national youth work.  
Today, LNU has 102 member organisations with a total of 450 000 individual members. Member organisations must be democratic and voluntary, and the majority of their members must be under the age of 26. LNU at the central level is organised into two different streams. The first stream is the board and board leader, which are elected by the member organisations at the general assembly. The board consists of 10 people. The board leader, Margete Bjørge Katanasho, is LNU’s representative towards the media and in most official meetings with the government. The second stream is the secretariat, who are not elected, but paid employees. The secretariat consists of 20 people.   
LNU works primarily with 3 main tasks: politics, knowledge / competence and funding.   
Knowledge/competence
We offer our member organisations various services, for example courses, guidance and a “knowledge bank” online where members can find useful resources and material. The courses we offer revolve around everything from political advocacy work to financial management and how to handle sexual harassment within an organisation. An example of the latter is the “Trygg Ambassadør” (Safe Ambassador) course. In this course, we help member organisations obtain the knowledge needed to handle sexual harassment and boundaries and create safe environments in their organisations. Those who have attended the course then become “safe ambassadors”.  
Politics
LNU has two political advisors, one for international affairs and one for national matters. The international advisor works with the UN Youth Delegate Programme, YFJ and European youth work. The national advisor works with politicians, central government members and other stakeholders to improve the terms and conditions for Norwegian children and youth organisations. Both advisors also hold courses for our member organisations.  
Funding
The finance department manages different funding schemes, such as the already mentioned FriFond. Another example of a funding scheme we manage is “Bærekraftsstøtta” (Sustainable support), in which youth organisations can apply for funding for projects involving sustainable climate work. A set of criteria determines which projects are granted funding.  

LNU works mostly with and for its member organisations, but not exclusively. For example, its courses are open to all organisations. Those who are not members must pay a small fee to attend the courses. We have a number of collaborations with external actors, such as the Ministry of Climate. LNU and the ministry work together to engage youth organisations in climate work, and we – commissioned by the ministry – have put together a working group of young people who will give advice to the government on how to tackle the climate crisis.  

2.2.4 Advocacy work  

Advocacy work is done in a number of different ways – there is no set standard for the correct or best way to do it. Some examples of advocacy work from the youth organisations are social media campaigns, physical campaigns, educational seminars, contacting politicians and adopting their own manifestos/organisational documents. Typical topics for our members include thematic topics, such as climate change and LGBTI+ rights, or cultural topics. A broader range of topics that LNU specifically works with is the general terms and conditions for children and youth organisations. We do not engage in ideological or political topics, but work mostly to give our members the tools they need to work as effectively and successfully as possible.  
A challenge with advocacy work is that there is a strong competition to be heard and get the attention of lawmakers and politicians. And of course, young people are not always taken as seriously as their adult counterparts, which can make advocacy work even tougher. LNU aspires to be a resource to our member organisations, and provide tools, courses and one-on-one guidance to members who want to learn more about advocacy work.  

2.2.5 Participation of young people in association activities 

The definition of young people in Norway is people under the age of 26. Young people engage in activities in various ways, ranging from political youth work to scouting, religious work and activity centred around topics such as climate change. The overall situation of youth organisations has remained stable in the last decade. However, the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a sharp drop in organised youth activity, as it did in most countries. Our member organisations report difficulties with getting the activity levels back to the pre-pandemic level. We at LNU are actively working on ways to improve this situation, and engage in dialogue with our members.  

2.3 Denmark

The Danish Youth Council
Dansk Ungdoms Fællesråd, DUF
www.duf.dk
 

2.3.1 Youth activities in general

Besides sports organisations, there are many different youth organisations, e.g. political, cultural, scientific, humanitarian and social organisations in many different settings. All of DUF’s members, as well as smaller unions, sports organisations and more social organisations, carry out youth work.
There are many unofficial categories, many made by the organisations themselves. But official categories are mainly determined by legislation that regulates and funds the activities.

2.3.2 Financing

DUF receives a share of the surplus from the Danish lottery funds to allocate to Danish children and youth organisations. Approx. 70 organisations receive funds from this pool every year. These funds are essential for many of the organisations, even the organisations with large incomes from projects, because the funds may be used freely for the purposes of the organisation. This means that they can be used for wages, transportation, general assemblies and the operations of the office. The share of the Danish lottery funds is stable and there are no indications that this will change.
Besides this, some organisations receive project funding from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Danish Parliament, private funds and other smaller public pools, which vary annually.

2.3.3 National umbrella organisation

DUF’s core values are participation, dialogue, volunteerism and influence. We promote communities where people are committed towards one another, and we actively engage young people in democracy, society and organisations; locally, nationally and internationally. DUF ensures that the unique character of youth organisations is recognised, and we are committed to developing our member organisations so that they can create exciting and appealing voluntary activities for children and young people. We work cross-politically to highlight the interests of youth organisations in relation to politicians and public authorities. DUF’s safeguarding of these interests ensures the framework for voluntary youth organisations on a political level. We administer DUF’s share of the Danish lottery funds and distribute approximately 140 million Danish kroner annually to Danish children and youth organisations. 
DUF – The Danish Youth Council is an umbrella organisation with 80 children and youth organisations as members. The member organisations of DUF range from the scouts to political youth organisations, voluntary social organisations, cultural organisations, environmental organisations, organisations for youth with disabilities and many more.
DUF was established in June 1940 as a reaction towards the growing Nazi movement. Leading democratic youth organisations wanted to show that, despite their differences, they had something in common: the ambition of strengthening democracy. And a vision of a committed and voluntary community working on behalf of community development.
Since then, DUF has developed as a large umbrella organisation consisting of more than 80 youth organisations with 600 000 members.
DUF’s founder Hal Koch has said the following:
“Democracy is more than a way of governance; democracy is a dialogue. It is a way of acting and a way to get along with other people where the respect for the individual human being, the community, the surroundings, and the society is essential. And where prejudices will be challenged, and contentions move positions.”   

DUF works for all young people in Denmark. Representing more than 600 000 members through our member organisations, the board and the chairperson of DUF are the legitimate voice of the youth in our country. DUF works for better conditions for the voluntary community in Denmark, for a more inclusive democracy, for enhanced youth engagement and involvement and for international solidarity. DUF also supports the strengthening of democracy and youth participation globally.

2.3.4 Advocacy work

DUF works to ensure good frameworks for youth-led organisations to operate in. This includes work to lighten the administrative burdens and bureaucratic barriers encountered by youth-led organisations. This is done, among others, through ongoing dialogue with partners, government officials and politicians, as well as participating in and hosting events (for example, DUF arranged a conference on this topic in 2021 in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture).
DUF places a large focus on democracy-related matters. DUF works to ensure that more people vote, more young candidates are elected, and more politicians take youth perspectives into account. DUF conducts campaigns on these matters in every election in Denmark. Furthermore, DUF works to put tech democracy on the media agenda, as well as participates in the public debate with solutions to several digital challenges.
Young people’s well-being is also a focus area for DUF. For example, in 2021, DUF participated in the government's youth panel for young people's well-being. The panel was composed of 15 young representatives who were tasked with coming up with suggestions on how to strengthen young people's well-being after the COVID-19 pandemic. These were later handed over to the Prime Minister.
DUF conducts advocacy work at an international level. Denmark’s youth delegates to the UN represent the interests of Danish youth in different UN bodies. In addition, DUF actively engages in the European Youth Forum (YFJ).

2.3.5 Participation of young people in association activities

DUF’s definition of young people is those aged 16 to 30. The Danish Youth Council (DUF) conducts an annual democracy analysis to investigate the status of Danish democracy and the political engagement of the Danish population with a specific focus on youth. The survey also investigates membership in different volunteer organisations. The most common volunteer organisations that young people between 15 and 26 are members of are sports associations (DUF, 2021a). The membership numbers in the different organisations have been relatively stable throughout the years 2017–2021 (see figure 1).
Figure 1: What type of organisation are you a member of?
However, in a membership survey conducted by DUF in 2021, 58% of the associations estimate that they have experienced a decline in membership as a consequence of COVID-19 (DUF, 2021b).
The concrete work that young people do in the associations varies extensively. A study by the Center for Voluntary Social Work (CFSA) shows that the most common volunteer work assignments for young people are 1. Practical work, 2. Education, trainer, teaching, team leader, 3. Personal care, contact person (e.g., mentor) (CSFA, 2018).
 There is a difference between the work done by teenagers and by slightly older young people. Teenagers are more involved in teaching tasks, whereas older young people (aged 25–29) more often carry out board, council and committee work, and secretarial and administrative work. Young people aged 20–24 carry out care tasks more often than other young people (CFSA, 2018).
Figure 2: Work tasks among young people aged 16–29. Percentages.
Bibliography:
Center for Frivilligt Socialt Arbejde (2018): Tal om unge og frivillighed: TENDENSRAPPORT OM 16-29-ÅRIGES FRIVILLIGE ARBEJDE. CFSA. Located: https://frivillighed.dk/files/media/documents/tal_om_unge_og_frivillighed_tendensrapport_juni2018_hdj.pdf
DUF (2021b): Et år med COVID-19: Sådan er foreningslivet blevet påvirket. DUF. Located: https://duf.dk/nyhed/saadan-har-coronakrisen-paavirket-foreningslivet

2.4 Sweden

 

2.4.1 Youth activities in general

Fryshuset started in the autumn of 1984 in a worn-out freezer warehouse in Norra Hammarbyhamnen. The enthusiast Anders Carlberg was commissioned by YMCA Söder to find a building that could serve as a basketball hall and gather together all the children and young people at Söder who wanted to play basketball. The old freezer warehouse was empty and the renovation and construction of a sports hall began. Anders heard from several construction workers with a passion for music that there was also a shortage of rehearsal spaces for musicians. He therefore arranged for 50 rehearsal rooms to be built in the house and got support from ABF, the Workers’ Educational Association, so that music activities could be conducted through study circles. The fact that Fryshuset came to be a hub for young musicians can be seen as a coincidence, but also clearly illustrates what would become Fryshuset’s path, namely to be responsive to young people's needs. Fryshuset soon began working with young people who were at risk of various types of exclusion, including so-called skinheads, which led to massive criticism.
Fryshuset stood its ground and argued that contacts and relationships are a prerequisite for being able to influence destructive young people. We also started engaging young people with street cred to create security. During the 90s, Fryshuset started several schools because we were convinced that all young people could succeed if we linked their passionate interests to school. The schools were also a way for Fryshuset to be able to follow the young people for a longer period of time and be able to pick up on young people's different needs, driving forces and interests, and thus be able to channel them towards suitable hobbies or social activities. Social entrepreneurship in various forms was started and driven by and for young people.
In the early 2000s, the expansion to Gothenburg and Malmö began. Fryshuset took its school concept to Angeredsgymnasiet in Gothenburg and the programme Lugna Gatan was launched  in both cities.
In January 2013, Fryshuset's founder Anders Carlberg passed away after a period of illness. Anders was a boundless enthusiast. His faith in people and their ability to grow and develop was utterly relentless. By the time of his death, Fryshuset had grown into a multifaceted national movement for the development of young people. A movement that continues to grow and spread throughout Sweden and to other countries.
Our activities include everything from dance, sports and music to social projects, education and labour market initiatives. The focus is always on young people and their chances of growing and developing. There are just over 60 projects and activities in four areas: Work and entrepreneurship, Role models & belief in the future, Schools and Youth culture. 

2.4.2 Areas of work

Work & entrepreneurship
The aim of Fryshuset's ‘Work & entrepreneurship’ area is to lower the thresholds for young people's entry into the regular labour market, with a particular focus on young risk groups, and to give young people opportunities for concrete and meritorious experiences that can be used further in life. The ambition is that this will lead to sustainable self-sufficiency for young people.
Activities and projects in the field of ‘Work & entrepreneurship’, such as LAMPAN, Powerhouse and Move on, offer individual guidance and supervision to increase the target group's opportunities for work or education. Fryshuset actively collaborates with business actors, authorities and employers to be able to offer simpler jobs that provide new networks, experiences and qualifications for the CV.
Role models & belief in the future
In the business area ‘Role models & belief in the future’, Fryshuset works to ensure that more young people can meet, develop and grow stronger. In this area, young people's protective factors and the opportunity for them to influence their future and that of others are strengthened. The activities within ‘Role models & belief in the future’ aim specifically to reach the young people who others do not reach and mobilise forces where others see problems.
‘Role models & belief in the future’ prevents social exclusion among young people. This is done, among other things, by working with present and credible role models in vulnerable areas and by creating positive contexts based on young people's participation in important issues. The work is promotional, preventive and aimed at young people. During the year, representatives in the field of activity have had many meetings with decision-makers to create an understanding of the importance of the promotional and preventive work to reduce the risk of young people engaging in destructive behaviour.
School
School is one of society's most important pillars for young people. Our children and young people often spend more time in the day in school than anywhere else. If you really want to be a part of young people's everyday lives, school is a fantastic opportunity. Based on the conviction that everyone can and wants to develop, Fryshuset's schools offer a meeting place for everyone, regardless of background and conditions.
Fryshuset's schools are run on the basis of common values. We have a strong belief that students' own passion and drive is an important key to motivation. In elementary schools and high school, all students pursue a passionate interest a number of hours a week, in the folk high school it is the passion for moving on to study or work that is the driving force, and at Danscenter the students share a passion for dance and the dream of a job in the industry. Fryshuset's long-term goal is to create meeting places with schools in every possible place. We see the strength in the fact that the school exists in a larger context that is something more than just school. We are convinced that student development benefits from having more adults than only the school staff around them. It broadens the young people's perspective, creates more adult relationships and, by extension, better relationships in society.
Youth culture
The ‘Youth culture’ activity area includes a wide range of leisure, sports and cultural activities. Fryshuset Ungdomskultur gives young people meaningful leisure time that contributes to better physical and mental health and is a tool for social development.
Fryshuset has both organised and open activities in the area of 'Youth culture’. The organised activities are activities where the participants need to register to participate and where they participate regularly. For example, evening classes at the dance centre, Motorinterested Youth, the holiday activities Lovely Days and the martial arts activities Frysbox. The open activities refer to meeting places and leisure activities like the youth recreation centres in Södermalm and Nacka, Öppna Fryshuset in Gothenburg and the meeting places in Nybro and Torsås. Here, young people can meet, socialise and be active on their own terms. The activities often combine passion (leisure activity) with dialogue. When young people's passion is at the focus at the same time as meetings and dialogue between young people from different backgrounds are promoted, this increases the understanding of the equal value of all people. The purpose of Fryshuset's activity houses/meeting places is to create a diversity of contexts that young people choose to participate in and that participation is done in safe places that adhere to Fryshuset's values. When this happens, young people develop, and society develops with them. The achievement of this goal is evaluated with a number of defined measurable goals, depending on the activity and specific purpose of each case and meeting place.

2.4.3 Financing

Fryshuset is financed by donations, grants, school vouchers, idea-based public partnerships (IOPs), procurements and the sale of goods and services. Fryshuset collaborates with a large number of private companies, public institutions and authorities as well as foundations and actors in civil society, both within and outside Sweden's borders. 

2.4.4 Umbrella organisation

Does not apply to us.

2.4.5 Advocacy work

Fryshuset's advocacy work aims to influence society in a direction that prioritises giving young people conditions, opportunities and environments where they can grow and develop based on their needs and passions. Therefore, the primary target groups of our advocacy work are decision-makers and those in power who make decisions in areas that affect the present and future of children and young people.

Fryshuset prioritises issues such as:
  • where we see a reasonable opportunity to influence public opinion and decision-making
  • where there is a clear youth perspective and which we know are important for young people
  • where we have expertise and experience.

Fryshuset's three focus areas for advocacy:
  • School: All students must finish compulsory school with upper secondary school eligibility.
  • Trust, security and inclusion: Everyone should be captured by society's promotional measures.
  • Leisure & young people's mental health: All young people have the right to meaningful leisure time and contexts where they can be seen, acknowledged and listened to.
Of course, we must be prepared to also participate in the debate on other issues that affect young people's lives and futures, but it is these three areas that we mainly proactively focus on in our advocacy work.

School – All students must finish compulsory school with upper secondary school eligibility.

Key message:
Leaving comprehensive school with upper secondary school eligibility is one of the most central factors in becoming part of society and not being left out. All young people should be able to complete their schooling and finish upper secondary school with an upper secondary school qualification.
Fryshuset wants to:
  • Ensure that the resources of schools, the social services and healthcare are mobilised so that students with several risk factors have ONE contact. Make social intervention groups the norm.
  • Create strong relationships between home and school, for example through parent education. The parenting relationship is an important and sometimes crucial success factor.
  • Direct more resources to schools in so-called vulnerable areas where young people are exposed to more risk factors as a collective group. Today, this is arbitrary and up to the municipality. Only some of the additional resources are available to independent schools.
  • Change/reinterpret current legislation and target resources to young people with special needs so that schools can build integrated forms of their activities with specific resources (facilities/ staff intensity). To reduce the risk of stigmatisation, and increase integration, we want to see integrated schools, not special resource schools. Students with challenges are usually best helped in environments characterised by a focus on the healthy.



Trust, security and inclusion – Everyone should be captured by society's promotional measures.

Key message:
To reduce gang criminality, the issue of promotion and prevention must be our decision-makers' main priority. The focus needs to be on ensuring that young people can cope with school and providing more meeting places, free culture and leisure and early support for parents. All young people must be included in society's promotional measures.
Fryshuset wants to:
  • Introduce an interdepartmental action plan (in addition to the Ministry of Justice mandate) that is anchored in position beyond party lines and maintained in the long run regardless of the government in 2023.
  • We want to see a multi-point programme, similar to the 34-point programme of the Ministry of Justice, but in all the other ministries that are essential to solving the root causes of new recruitment.
  • Ensure that promotional and preventive measures are included in and dominate the government's action proposal against organised crime/gang violence.

Leisure & young people's mental health – All young people have the right to meaningful leisure time and contexts where they can be seen, acknowledged and listened to.

Key message:
The focus of young people's leisure activities needs to be shifted from activity to context. First, there needs to be an inclusive context for every young person. Activities can then be offered there. In order for these contexts within civil society to live and develop, more long-term, effective and predictable financing is needed.
Fryshuset wants to:
  • Ensure that the law on IOP is adopted and designed so that it enables and simplifies long-term collaborations between non-profit organisations, civil society and the public sector.
  • Ensure that the Swedish Sports Confederation adopts a modernised grant system that enables the financing of a wider range of sports activities that meet young people's current needs.
  • Ensure that cultural support is designed so that more people can take part in it and so that it enables culture as part of youth activities and projects to a greater extent than in cultural schools only.
  • Remove the fee for after-school recreation centres in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas.
  • Investigate the possibility of staffing spontaneous sports venues with leaders to contribute to increased physical activity.
  • Set requirements in new detailed plans for non-commercial meeting places and contexts for children and young people.
  • Make better use of existing public facilities for leisure activities. 

2.4.6 Participation of young people in association activities

Fryshuset defines young people as people up to 29 years old. All young people who come to Fryshuset do so because they have some type of passion or interest in our programmes. We see a steady increase in the number of participants; we are growing all the time. Among other things, our schools have had the largest intake of students ever in the autumn 2022 school term.
We have several associations at Fryshuset. Participants who are up to 26 years old actively choose to participate in them. Each association is its own legal entity, but everyone is responsible for following the foundation's vision and mission and everyone has a collaboration agreement with the Fryshuset Foundation.
Our associations have around 10 000 members. We could have more members, but the capacity of the premises prevents this. The associations are run through membership fees and other money that can be applied for. Some associations are affiliated with national organisations and can get support from them.
Nordic Council of Ministers I www.norden.org/publications I pub@norden.org