Factors of safety – “Our youth facility is the railway station where young people are”
Youth workers Heidi Tikka and Samuel Susilinna move around where young people are: on trains, in stations and in shopping centres. The pair build an atmosphere of trust along the tracks. Watch a video of the work, which is getting a lot of feedback from residents.
This video article is the first in a series Safety Factors. The video is in Finnish. A translation will be published shortly.
Meetings between youth workers and young people are often everyday conversations.
– The most important question you can ask a young person is how are you? We also genuinely listen to the answer, says Heidi Tikka, a specialised youth worker.
Hobbies and family are common topics of conversation. Young people share their joys and sorrows. Sometimes the young people need to talk in a more serious way or need support or help. Heidi and Samuel then refer the young person to the services they need.
In Vantaa, these meetings amount to an average of over 700 per month.
Not everyone comes to the youth centres
Vantaa youth work teams are on the move in the evenings from Wednesday to Saturday, especially around the Ring Rail Line. Just saying hello – and there are a lot of those – is not included in the monthly count.
In practice, they work at stations, on trains, in shopping centres or even in school playgrounds.
– Sometimes we joke with young people that our youth centre is the shopping centre or station where they are, says Samuel Susilinna, a special youth worker.
Not all young people come to the youth centres, says youth worker Tuuli Särkijärvi.
– Our main task is to be safe adults wherever children and young people are, Särkijärvi summarises.
Ten years of successful cooperation
Youth work on the railway started in 2015 with Vantaa and the Ring Rail Line. The Ring Rail Line made it easier to get around and also provided new opportunities for meetings.
The idea is to bring youth work to where young people go and spend their free time.
In addition to Vantaa, there are now activities in Helsinki, Espoo, Järvenpää, Kirkkonummi and Kauniainen. In addition to the municipalities, the work is carried out by Children of the Station. Strong support is provided by good cooperation with a network of partners. The joint work of the cities is led and coordinated by the City of Vantaa.
– Our work would not be possible without the support of the Finnish Transport Agency, HSL and VR, among others. We also work closely with public order officers and security guards, says Särkijärvi.
Travelling safety and understanding
A clearly recognisable uniform is a message to young people, says Susilinna.
– Anyone wearing this logo can be contacted for help. The logo is in neon orange, so that we can be recognised there, says Susilinna.
The youth work is there for the young people, but they also benefit other travellers and people moving around the city. One of the aims of the work is to promote travel safety and increase mutual understanding between young people and other travellers.
– We go out and talk to people in situations that might need some reassurance, says Susilinna.
Sometimes young people come to socialise with the youth workers, even if they don't want to talk to a partner.
– They feel safer being with us, says Susilinna.
“You get to hear the best stories from young people”
Heidi Tikka praises the agility of the youth work approach and the strength of the network.
– This work is really needed. We are not tied to a particular place or area. We can really go where the young people are, says Tikka.
But the best part of the work is meeting the young people, says the couple.
– The best stories come from the young people, and the young people you meet are usually very friendly, Susilinna smiles.
A large proportion of young people are doing well
The organisation also receives a lot of positive feedback from passers-by. Sometimes the most inspiring feedback comes from a young person.
– I feel a strong sense of achievement when a young person tells me that he or she has become involved in the youth centre by being referred there, for example, Susilinna says.
According to the couple, most of the young people are doing well.
– Perhaps we sometimes forget in our work that young people who face challenges in life are a small group after all. In general, the young people have hobbies, their families are well and they do well in school, says Samuel Susilinna.
This video article is the first part of a three-part series called ‘Safety factors’. The other videos in the series will be published in autumn 2025 and will showcase the work being done in Vantaa to promote safety.
