The Finnish Society of Melbourne has various types of groups run by its members. Some groups are based on activities and social gatherings while others provide a service to the club and its members. If you don’t see a group you would like to join we encourage you to create one!
Wednesday Group
Organiser(s): Anneli & Lauri Jortikka
The Wednesday Club meets every Wednesday 10 am at the Finnish Hall to have coffee, play billiards, have sing-alongs, watch videos, celebrate birthdays etc.
It’s great to have an enjoyable Wednesday morning having a chat and catching up with friends. Everyone is welcome to come along!
Urheilu / Sports
Organiser(s): Colin Goodwin
The Finnish Society’s sports club has baseball practice (men and women) every Sunday morning in Altona, J.K. Grant reserve next to the Altona Civic Centre during the summer season. Come along if you’re interested to play in a team, both teams would like more players.
Kansantanssi / Folk dancing
Organiser(s): Tara Jumpponen
The folk dancing group does variations of Finnish dances and have included dances from Karelia.
You can see them perform at some of our cultural events or come along to the rehearsals and have a go.
Kuoro / Choir
Organiser(s): Hilja Toom
The “Spirit of Finland” choir has been singing together since 2004 with Hilja’s leadership. We have been strengthening our voices, having fun and really enjoying our singing. Not to mention the coffee break with wonderful cakes.
Why not join the choir? You don’t need to speak Finnish to join!
Paistaminen / Baking
Organiser(s): Mauri Kankaanpää
The Finnish Society’s baked goods is one of the main forms of fundraising which enable us to run events and celebrate our culture.
You can help the Finnish Society by coming to our baking days. Join the production crew and learn how to make traditional Finnish cinnamon buns, rye bread, Karelian pies and more while in good company! Bakers will be able to buy what was made on the day for a discount.
Viestintä / Communications
Organiser(s): Jeffery McDougall
The Communications group is responsible for creating and sending the newsletters (printed and electronic), managing the website and social media pages, and answering general questions brought to us through email and those platforms.
We aim to provide engaging content for our members and subscribers. You may see us running around various events taking photos and videos.
Areas that we are looking for people to help with:
- Article writing – event write ups and relevant community news.
- photos of events and the society in general
- Translations into Finnish
Create one!
Don’t see a group that is right for you? Grab a few of your friends and create one!
Just provide the FSM committee with a brief of what your group will be about and the number of people that share your vision.
The Finnish Society of Melbourne 