Finn-Guild activities in Keski-Suomi

[Graham Burns]

My name is Graham Burns and I am the local representative for the Finn-Guild here in the Keski-Suomi region. My wife, Eila, and I moved to Jyväskylä from England a year and a half ago and it has taken me this long to get my act together. Let me begin by introducing the Finn-Guild and then I’ll explain what I’m trying to achieve.

Finn-Guild, officially the Finnish Church Guild, is the largest Finnish-British organisation with 20,000 members divided evenly between the two countries. The organisation, founded in 1965, promotes Finnish language and culture in Britain, supports all levels of cultural exchanges between the two countries, and works for the benefit of the Finnish-British community. Finn-Guild is a UK registered charitable organisation and as such receives no funding from either government (except for a miniscule amount provided annually by the Finnish Board of Education for the provision of Finnish language teaching for the children), and finances its work through membership fees and income from its travel agency, Guild Travel Ltd. Check out our web site at http://www.finn-guild.org But this is not an ad, nor am I looking for your money!

In recent years, the main focus of the Guild has been to support those families living in the UK but with an increasing amount of families now settling in Finland, our emphasis has needed to adjust somewhat. There are, of course, a number of social and cultural events here in Finland but they seem to occur in Helsinki among the main concentration of membership. Eila and I would like to change that. In the Keski-Suomi region we currently have a membership of 186 people and, indeed, would welcome more. A network of friends to whom one can turn in time of need or simply just someone to discuss the ‘meaning of life’ with over a glass of whatever does you good is perhaps what is required. So why don’t we pool our resources, so to speak, and get to know one another. My intension is to begin by organising what I hope will become a regular get-together in the Gastro-pub Jalo in the Sokos Hotel Alexandra (on the corner of Asemakatu and Hannikaisenkatu) in Jyväskylä. The first gathering will be on Thursday, 29th March at 7pm.

If you would like to come along, can I ask you to please let me know so that I can inform the pub of the likely number of attendees? In the event that you would like to become involved but cannot make the first gathering, don’t worry. Please contact me anyway so that I can add you to my own list of direct contacts and let you know about further events. Even if you don’t currently have Finn-Guild membership but have an interest in the UK or Ireland and Finland, or simply want an excuse to socialise in English in Jyväskylä regularly, you are welcome to come and join us. You can contact me either by email at graham.burns@finn-guild.org or by phone on 050 557 1301.

I look forward to meeting you at our first gathering.