Welcome as a volunteer!
Join us to help others and make a difference!
Want to help others, learn new skills and meet new people? Join volunteer activities at the Red Cross! Young people are a valuable part of the Red Cross activities and community. We welcome everyone to join us.
There is a way for everyone to help
The Red Cross offers a wide range of volunteering opportunities. For example, you can be a friend to a lonely person in your town or online, practise first aid skills with others, or deliver food aid to someone in need.
As a volunteer, you help others, you are part of a team, you make a difference in the world, and you can feel good about it. At the same time, you will learn new skills and gain useful experience for your career or education.
You can find opportunities to participate that suit your own life, even if you are in school or working. The Red Cross offers both short-term assignments and longer-term volunteering opportunities. Activities are available both online and in locations around Finland.
Come as you are
All are welcome to join the Red Cross as they are. We want you to feel good about being part of the Red Cross community.
You do not need any skills beforehand, as you will receive training for volunteering. You can find more information about the training on the Oma Punainen Risti website, for example. You will also have chances to develop your skills, and later you can become a trainer or an organiser or otherwise make a difference within the Red Cross.
How can you join?
You can search for volunteering activities and trainings that suit you and register on the Oma Punainen Risti website. You can also contact the district or branch in your area to get involved.
Welcome on board as a volunteer!
What kind of a helper would you like to be?
Anyone can become a Red Cross volunteer friend for a lonely person. If you have the skill of listening and being present, you are a suitable volunteer friend candidate. No special skills are required.
Become a friend to someone lonely
As a Red Cross Youth Shelter volunteer, you can listen and help young people who are experiencing difficulties.
People of all ages are welcome to volunteer at our Youth Shelters. You do not need prior experience, as we will provide orientation to the task. At the Youth Shelter, you will be working together with professionals.
Our Youth Shelters support young people and their families in Espoo, Helsinki, Tampere, Turku and Vantaa, and around the country online.
As a volunteer, you can provide concrete aid to people in difficult situations in life.
Ask for more information about the Red Cross food distributions from your local Red Cross district office or branch.
Read more about the food aid activities of the Red Cross
In a first aid group, you can develop your skills and provide concrete aid, e.g. through first aid duty.
Read more and join a first aid group
As a member of an emergency team, you can support the authorities in emergency operations, e.g. by helping people who have lost their homes in a fire or someone who got lost in the forest. You can join the extensive network of helpers, the Voluntary Rescue Service.
Read more about our emergency operations and join
Good health is important to us all. As a volunteer, you can promote health and well-being e.g. at our Health Points, open to everyone, and at festivals or as a home safety coach.
Red Cross volunteers can lead clubs and camps for children, organise events and instruct hobbies.
Choose the volunteer activity that interests you
As a youth shelter volunteer you can support young people at the shelter, online or in other environments where young people spend time.
Volunteering online offers a flexible way of helping others anywhere and anytime. Red Cross online helping tasks allow you to make a difference, provide support and bring people together.
Are you the one to get things moving at a Red Cross volunteer branch? For example, you can be in charge of the communications or accounts of your local branch or become a member of the board.
Contact your local branch
Our volunteer activities on humanitarian law aim to carry out one of the core tasks of the Red Cross – spreading information on the rules of war. These rules of war, i.e. agreements on international humanitarian law, aim to restrict the effects of armed conflicts.
Red Cross volunteer groups on humanitarian law operate across Finland organising lectures, introductory visits, events and training. You can become a member of the group or a trainer.
In the humanitarian law group, you can promote the rules of war and human rights by organising events and planning activities.
As a trainer, you can arrange different courses for anyone interested in the themes.
Sign up by sending an email to humanitaarinenoikeus(at)redcross.fi
Would you like to help immigrants and asylum seekers? As a volunteer, you can promote equality and build a diverse society.
The Red Cross volunteer activities are multicultural and welcome anyone who identifies with the Red Cross values. The activities bring together people with various kinds of backgrounds.
Read more and join us in helping
In Finland, 800 volunteer blood donors are needed every weekday. Stem cell donors are also needed as lifesavers. Join us in helping patients receive a chance for a new and better life.
Become a blood donor
Join the stem cell register
Signing up as a box collector allows you to help victims of disasters in Finland and around the world. Collecting donations is not only important, but also fun and easy volunteer work.
Box collectors collect donations during emergency aid collections and campaigns. The funds collected by box collectors allow the Red Cross to help those in need quickly and efficiently.
Emergency aid collections are initiated in response to major disasters in Finland and around the world. These situations are often caused by natural disasters, such as earthquakes or hurricanes. The most important aid campaign is the annual Hunger Day collection organised in the autumn.
Join our box collector reserve and we will invite you to help with emergency aid collections and Hunger Day. Signing up as a box collector does not oblige you to do anything; you can always choose whether or not to participate based on your current situation.
Sign up to collect donations with us We will contact you when your help is needed. Welcome!
A celebration coming up? Ask your friends and family to donate to a cause important to you. A dedicated collection is also a beautiful way of honouring the memory of a loved one.
Set up an online fundraiser
As a digital fundraiser, you can participate in helping in Finland and abroad. Companies can set up a collection for their staff or cooperation partners, too. Share the online collection on social media and via email.
Instructions and tips for an online fundraiser
Collect using bank transfers
If online collecting seems too technical, you can also collect the traditional way by directing funds to the Red Cross bank account. Instructions:
1.Please enter the details of your special anniversary or memorial donation on the form and submit it to us.
- Within a few working days, you will receive the bank account number and the reference number by email.
2. Tell the participants about the bank account number and the reference number
- Ask them to enter the reference number in the donation reference field.
3. You will be informed of the donated sum approximately two weeks after the event by email.
Are you looking for hobbies for children or young people? Come get to know our volunteer activities, engage in hobbies and learn new skills!
You can start in many volunteer activities without any training. You can learn more about Red Cross activities in the ‘Welcome to our shared story’ online course (duration approx. 30 min).
Volunteer training courses will provide you with more information about the various volunteering opportunities available and the practices of the Red Cross. The training courses will also allow you to develop your skills as a helper in different situations.
Volunteering for the Red Cross is an ideal way of increasing staff communality and the significance of your work, as well as making the world a better place.
Through aid work, you can communicate your values to your customers, interest groups and employees, and make a concrete change to the well-being of communities.
Help children and residents of cold areas by knitting and sewing. There is always a need for children’s clothes, socks and mittens, for example!