Knit the Asylum Seeker a Pair of Socks
Finland is famous for its cold, cold winters and often the asylum seekers arriving here might not have enough warm clothes. At the same time there are many people who want to do something to help the asylum seekers. Because many people already enjoy knitting, there was an idea to combine these two, and so the campaign “Knit the asylum seeker a pair of socks” was launched. Warm, woolen socks are not only a necessary piece of clothing, but a symbolical, warm welcome to Finland. The woolen socks have a sense of home and safety about them, and receiving them might help making an asylum seeker feel more like home in Finland.
Yhteismaa started to lead this campaign in the fall of 2015 and soon knitting spread all over Finland. Thousands of people got involved and sometimes there were tens of pairs of woolen socks from just one person. The Finnish Red Cross delivered the socks to the reception centres. The campaign lasted officially until the end of 2015, but knitting has continued after that, as well.
