SANTA CLAUS FOUNDATION

CHRISTMAS CHURCH-
FOUNDATION

The purpose of the Santa Claus Foundation

The purpose of the Santa Claus Foundation is to develop and maintain the global image of Finland as a real Christmas country and Santa Claus' home country, to create the conditions for the exploitation of this image and to promote the well-being of children around the world. Santa Claus Foundation's values are goodwill, authenticity, cooperation and joy.

Doing good together

The Santa Claus Foundation supports and collaborates with organizations such as the Foundation for Children and Youth with Disabilities, Save the Children, and the Children's Hospital Association.

The Santa Claus Foundation wishes to thank its partners who make it possible to carry out this important work for the benefit of children and young people.
Get to know our partners

For Children and Youth

The Santa Claus Foundation works for the benefit of children and young people. This year, the support of the Santa Claus Foundation was directed to the Vamlas Foundation for disabled children and young people, to the small patients of the Children's Clinic, and to Save the Children Finland.
Previous destinations

Latest from the Foundation

Objectives of support in previous years

With Santa's gift, we help children and young people with disabilities and their families to live a life of equality with others. We challenged everyone to take part in the Equal Christmas charity programme.

The campaign was organised in partnership with the charity Vamlas, an experienced charity for children and young people with disabilities that is over a century old.

Santa Claus' goodwill tour in Finland and Asia. We visited playschools, preschools and hospitals together with Santa Claus. Santa also travelled by train. He wanted to show how important it is to use ecologically friendly means of transport. Santa Claus met thousands of children during the tour, so that everyone could feel the goodwill and true spirit of Christmas.

The partners were VR, Nelonen Media Group, City of Tampere, City of Turku, Sheraton, Sony Music and Spotify.

The child must have the opportunity to do

Together with the incredible Harlem Globetrotters, Santa Claus organised a basketball event in the centre of Helsinki. The aim was to raise awareness and tell people how important it is to give every child the opportunity to play.

Santa's gift was distributed to several beneficiaries, one of which was the Finnish non-profit organisation TATU Ry. The gift was given to support children injured in road accidents.

TATU is a national organisation established in 2001. Its aim is to support children and young people who have been injured in accidents or suffer from long-term illnesses, and their families.

The Santa Claus Foundation contributed to children's educational opportunities with donations in 2015. Santa's wish is that as many children as possible have the opportunity to be educated and gain knowledge. Santa's gift was delivered through Save the Children.

The international portion of Santa's gift was donated to Nepal, to buy school supplies for children from underprivileged families. The domestic portion of the Santa Claus gift was donated to enable high school studies by providing high school textbooks for the entire duration of the studies. In addition, we donated tablet computers for unaccompanied refugee children in Finland.

400 NEPALESE CHILDREN GIVEN SCHOOL PENS AND PENCILS FOR A YEAR

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. In Nepal, many children from poor families are left to dream of going to school because parents cannot afford to send their children to school. The financial situation of the family can be so tight that parents cannot afford to buy even the most basic school supplies such as pens and exercise books for their children. But you can't go to school without them.

ONE YOUNG PERSON FROM A LOW-INCOME FAMILY RECEIVED TEXTBOOKS FOR THE WHOLE DURATION OF UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL

The support is intended for young people whose continued schooling after primary school is threatened by the family's lack of resources. It enables the young person to start upper secondary school and enrol for the baccalaureate.

UNACCOMPANIED MINORS WHO CAME TO FINLAND AS ASYLUM SEEKERS RECEIVED TEN TABLET COMPUTERS

The tablets were delivered to the underage units run by Save the Children in Espoo and Oulu. Save the Children and Joulupukki have launched measures to help asylum-seeking children who have arrived in Finland. Without help and support, these children are at risk of being marginalised, falling into danger due to lack of protection and further loss.

The Santa Claus Foundation has three times given a Santa Claus gift to the HUS Child Psychiatry Department. The funds have been used for recreational activities for children.

Child psychiatry is a medical specialty that studies and treats mental disorders in children. It assesses whether a child has a mental disorder, whether treatment is needed and what is the appropriate form of treatment.

In a polyclinic examination, a team, usually consisting of a doctor, psychologist, social worker and/or nurse, gets to know the child's situation by meeting the whole family and interviewing the parents.

The child is subjected to individual examinations, including an interview by a doctor in a framework appropriate to the child's age and developmental level (e.g. play observation), a somatic and neurological examination, a psychologist's examination and, if necessary, other special examinations, e.g. a paediatric neurologist's examination. Sometimes a ward examination is necessary to assess the child's psychological situation and the need for treatment, which usually takes 6-8 weeks.

The most common reasons for coming to an examination are usually anxiety in kindergarten or school, disruptive behaviour, difficulties in social relationships, depressive symptoms.

KOROKOCHO, A SLUM IN KENYA

In 2014, the international share of Santa's gift was donated to Kenya through World Vision Finland. Santa Claus went on the ground in Nairobi's Korokocho slum to deliver clean water and healthy food.

AASOLI, A VILLAGE IN CENTRAL INDIA

In 2012, the international portion of Santa's gift was donated to the village of Aasolin in Central India through World Vision Finland. Santa Claus has donated building materials for a pre-school and a cow to provide milk for a poor family in India through the Gift of the Cow shop.

EAST AFRICAN CHILDREN

Santa's first international gift went to children in East Africa in 2011.Help Santa is a Christmas gift campaign run jointly by the Santa Claus Foundation, World Vision Finland, Upcode, MiniMoi and Finnish Broadcasting Corporation Yle to help children in East Africa. The campaign is the brainchild of a team from YLE's National Treasure programme.

World Vision is the aid collector and deliverer for the Help Santa campaign. Proceeds from the collection will go to East Africa; half will be used for emergency relief in the Horn of Africa crisis area and the other half for World Vision Finland's long-term development programmes in Kenya and Uganda. Proceeds from the fundraising will be used to promote children's education, health and well-being, and to strengthen families and communities. The emergency aid is primarily used to distribute clean water and rehabilitate existing wells and boreholes.

In 2008, Santa's gift was divided into three parts. One part went to make children with severe epilepsy and their families happy by giving them the opportunity to enjoy a recreational event together.

Epilepsy (formerly known as seizure disorder) is a chronic neurological condition characterised by recurrent, unpredictable attacks of unconsciousness, seizures or blurred consciousness. An epileptic seizure is a transient brain disorder caused by abnormal, eruptive brain activity, which in the worst case may spread throughout the brain.

According to the International Health Organisation (WHO), epilepsy is one of the most important serious brain diseases and accounts for about 1% of the global burden of disease.

The second part of the 2007 and 2008 Santa's Gifts went to Non Fighting Generation.

The most important way for a youth educator to influence young people is to open up new perspectives into their inner world. This requires educational dialogue that takes into account the young person's life situation, broadens their world view and develops life skills. Encounters with young people must be interactive, starting with empathic listening. Moreover, the youth educator must also use his or her influence on young people, who do not yet have the capacity to regulate their lives in a guided way in all respects. Interactive support must therefore also include active guidance, advice and encouragement.

A part of Finland’s intangible cultural heritage

The Finnish tradition of Santa Claus recognised as part of intangible cultural heritage.

The Finnish tradition of Santa Claus is on the National Inventory of Living Heritage, which is linked to the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Decisions on the sites are taken by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the list is maintained by the National Board of Antiquities.
Santa Claus stories for children
Always help when you can – don’t think only of yourself. Be kind and courteous; that way you can spread good feelings around you. Every good deed can give rise to a thousand more. There is no limit to the number of good deeds the world can hold, and when someone helps you, remember to say thank you and consider how you could help someone else in return. That way, the wave of kindness continues.
SANTA CLAUS FOUNDATION
Eteläesplanadi 2, 00130 Helsinki

Jari Ahjoharju, Agent
+358 400 638 696
[email protected]

© 2025 Santa Claus Finland & Licensing | by developit // creative
The images and texts are protected by copyright.

Lapland Troll

The trolls that live in Lapland belong to the Arctic troll family, or polar trolls. You can recognise them by the snow packed in their fur and their fierce growling. They are tough to give snow washes and are therefore feared throughout the Korvatunturi region. However, you can easily placate the Sunbird by giving it a good hug. It will melt the troll's boggart heart and with good luck you'll make a lifelong friend.

Finnish horse

In Finland, we are used to a certain modesty. The Finnish horse, for example, does not boast much about being one of the fastest and most versatile cold-blooded animals in the world. Even though it is. In the Korvatunturi, the abilities of Finnish horses are well known, and they have been considered one of the most reliable working companions for centuries.

One enthusiastic stable elf devoted much of his life to trying to teach a Finnish horse to fly like Santa's reindeer. He was proved to be too heavy for the job - the height record was set by crashing into the chimney of Santa's sauna.

Snowman

The world's tallest snowman was built in the United States. It was over 37 metres high and took over three months to build. 

The world's smallest snowman was built on the Korvatunturi. It was built by Hjalmar Metriparta, head of the Tonttuversta's miniature department, by stacking three snowflakes using specially made tweezers cooled to absolute zero. 

In his excitement, however, he threw the snowman away without a trace before anyone saw it.

Niila the dog

A happy and playful puppy, whose best friend is Palle-poro. Nilla, with her beady eyes, prefers to sleep next to a warm stove. Nilla wears a collar around her neck. Nilla loves snow!

Palle-poro

Teddy is Santa's trusty sidekick. On Christmas Eve, when things get busy, Palle makes it to every corner of the world with Santa Claus. Palle's favourite food is apples. He can draw beautiful patterns on snow with his horns. Palle is also musical and loves to dance to Christmas carols. He wears a big bell around his neck.

The reindeer, by the way, is a semi-wild domestic animal related to the deer that grazes in the fells. You may not have known that all reindeer are naturally able to fly. But neither do the reindeer themselves. So the biggest challenge for the reindeer trainers at Korvatunturi is to get the reindeer to realise their flying skills themselves. Learning to fly is one of the most closely guarded secrets of Korvatunturi. The training technique is passed down by tradition through whispering alone.

Ensio

Ensio an "easy" guy with a heart of gold who doesn't stand up straight but stands up when help is needed. Whether it's an almond stuck in Santa's throat or some other humanitarian crisis, our good guy is eager to be there with a first aid kit on his back, ready to save the day. On rescue missions around the world, he's accompanied by his trusty Alaskan malamute, Nöpö, whose sharp muzzle and snow shovel-sized paws come in handy, especially when searching for lost skiers in the snow.

As a selfless elf, he always wants to put good things into circulation, which is why he has set up the Little Monkey First Aid School, teaching the children of the world the all-important first aid skills of a girl and boy. As well as wound cleaning and plastering, there are courses on everything from doing good to helping your neighbour make snow to making coffee for lonely grandmothers.

Fredrik

The Porvoon riverbank is an ancient settlement area. Several hundred years ago, a merchant ship sailed down the small river with a ship's elf named Fredrik Flodbåt on board. Fredrik is attached to his hometown of Porvoo and its warm, friendly inhabitants, whom he likes to playfully tease every now and then, if not every now and then. His best friend is the cat in the cathedral. From his home in the bell tower, he can see every nook and cranny of the city. The elf's role model is the Runeberg family itself. He thinks it is wonderful that Porvoo has been home to a family whose words and art have remained alive in the hearts of all. True to his role model, he wears glasses on his nose, even if he doesn't need them when he is sharp-sighted.

The elf spends a lot of time in nature and for this former riverside elf, the Pelling Archipelago is the most beautiful place in the world.

Lampertti

Smile every time you step on board, because so does Lampertti the ship's elf! Sailing at sea makes his eyes light up like the anticipation of Christmas Eve, as the merrily crashing waves carry him off on incredible adventures. Lampertti has dipped his miter in the Red Sea, anchored his ship in the fabled port of Atlantis and disappeared a few times with his boat into the Bermuda Triangle.

Lampert's favourite pastime is also pedalling in a Christmas balloon - with a swimming ring, flippers and his best friend Harri Hylke, of course. The open sea, the joyful chatter of the seagulls and the sea wind blowing tiny fireworks into his beard always make Lampert sigh with happiness, because the sea is his home and adventure is his calling.

Morning

The dawn was comforting people and reducing the fear of flying for the first time back in 1909 when those great giants of the sky, airships, made it possible to fly like a bird in the sky. Morning is a philanthropic elf who loves the human bustle of the station and can best be spotted from his favourite spot in the arrival hall, where tears still well up in his eyes every time he witnesses the emotional reunion of grandparents and grandchildren on the eve of Christmas.

The days at the station are busy, with Aamu scurrying around with a walkie-talkie in his pocket attaching loose luggage tags. In the run-up to Christmas, Aamu likes to assist Santa himself in choosing and wrapping last-minute presents. At night, the station is more serene and this is when Mamu patrols the terminals, tucking in sleeping backpackers and waking sleep-deprived passengers for their onward flights.

Veikka

Veikka is an elf that most of us have unknowingly come across somewhere in the world. He's always on the move, but his weathered face is often covered by binoculars, a sun visor, ski goggles or a sleep mask made from a Christmas red blanket. But you can still recognise Veika for his exceptional sense of adventure and his ability to guess all his fellow travellers' favourite holiday destinations - sometimes even correctly!

Veikka has travelled the world a hundred and one times, and has captured a thousand and one sights on his camera memory card, from the Eiffel Tower to the famous limestone mound of Kheops. But his favourite destination is Joulusaari, which broke away from the Korvatunturi when the continental plates moved a long, long time ago. The island still has a small but hardy reindeer population, and special almonds used in Christmas porridge are grown on the slopes of the tropical fells. Veikka always brings them back to Korvatunturi as souvenirs.

Konrad

You may have noticed that many train carriages have small hatches in the wall or ceiling that the average passenger never gets a peek behind. They give access to the secret service routes of the train wagons.

In fact, each train is staffed by three to five real elves. Their responsibilities include checking train schedules using star maps, waking up dozing passengers at the right stop and looking after animal passengers.

Train elves live a nomadic life. The oldest of them all, the legendary Konrad "Konnari", who has travelled every single stretch of Finland's 6,000-kilometre railway network. Konnari's favourite route is Oulu-Rovaniemi, especially in winter frosts and when it's brown. Konrad's favourite motto is "Now things are on track".

Papu

People drink a lot of coffee in Finland. In fact, the most in the world. And a big slice of our country's coffee consumption rests on one, rather small, shoulder. They belong to an elf called Paul the Pot-bellied Gaffebau - more commonly known as Papu. His most famous motto is 'Christmas in white and coffee in black'.

Papu is the official coffee elf of Korvatunturi and a true enthusiast. He has tuned all his elf senses to the development of the perfect Christmas coffee. The right recipe has now been honed for 147 years, and coffee has been drunk in the same amount as one medium-sized forest pond.

The number one customer at Papu Elf is Santa Claus himself, for whom a steaming cuppa is poured every morning straight from Paul's traditional copper pot. Today it was blend number 3008, with a touch of lichen. We don't yet know what they thought of it.

Tuutio

Tuomas Torventöräys, nicknamed Tuutio. Tuutio is 107 years old. His familiar catchphrase is "There are elves of all stripes on the road again". The Korvatunturi is a traditional region where sledges run on the hillside to the glow of the northern lights. Quiet and peaceful. It has always been like this and that's good. But it was Tuutio's love of cars that took him from Korvatunturi to the city. He combined his love of cars with the elves' unerring sense of direction and became a taxi driver. How does he reach the pedals of a car? Tuutio has specially designed stilts decorated with speed stripes, which he received from a grand elf as a Christmas present.

Edison

The Edison elf always carries a computer in his backpack, as he is responsible for the IT affairs of Korvatunturi. Edison's role model is Linus Torvalds, the inventor of Linux. He is also developing his own computer application called Eartree with milk.

Patrick

Playing number 11, Elf Patrick loves not only hockey but also other winter sports. He loves animals, and is training for a running race to beat his dog in the 100 metres.

Kaamos

A big fan of metal music, Kaamos the elf gets inspiration for his music from Finnish nature and the changing seasons. Kaamos's first hit, Swallow the Norhern Light, topped the Korvatunturi charts for 24 weeks! Kaamos' hobbies also include baking.

Echo

An echo-elf understands animal speech. The animals are the elves' helpers, and Kaiku translates the animals' speech for the other elves. Kaiku can also turn elves into animals, but only one at a time.

Höperö

Höperö is also particularly known for his absent-mindedness. To be on the safe side, the elf celebrates Christmas on the 24th of every month, just to make sure he doesn't forget. He is 350 years old and a scribe by trade. He collects beards in different colours and uses them to keep his beard wavy. He likes to eat Rice Porridge every day to find an almond, because he can't remember ever having found one.

Sparky

At 111 years old, the pink-haired Säihky is a real cheerleader who puts everyone in a good mood. Dancing and singing are among his favourite pastimes. She can play several songs in a skirt while dancing. Säihky likes anything with colours and stripes. They often go hippy-hopping with Palle the reindeer.

Oula

A 193-year-old bearded and snooty elf. Oula is a hard-working elf, but when needed, he can easily be inspired to play and romp around. Oula enjoys sledging, snowmaking and jumping into snow piles. He is learning to play the guitar and loves Joulumuor's black coffee.

Santa Claus's tassels

Santa's slippers are like the embrace of a fireplace - soft and warm. The spruce pattern that decorates them speaks of his love of nature and his connection to the northern landscape.

Santa's boots

Santa Claus' boots have traversed the snowy forests and corners of the world. Their surface carries the memories of thousands of Christmas journeys, and the fir tree pattern speaks of the values that make Christmas magic.

Santa's hat

Santa's cap is deep red and soft as first snow. Its tassel floats like a snowball falling from the clouds, and it carries with it the spirit of Christmas and thousands of stories that whisper softly in the wind to Santa's ears.

Santa's beard

Santa's beard is like a shimmering snowdrift - long, bushy and mysterious like a northern fir forest. Its thousands of curls are like loops woven by the Christmas tree, dancing like snowflakes in the winter weather.

The face of Santa Claus

Santa has a warm smile on his face and a sparkle in his eyes. Soft furrows and bushy eyebrows tell of centuries of wisdom and stories.

Tuomo

157-year-old beardless elf. Tuomo is very young for an elf, still in his infancy, or rather in his infancy. Tuomo hasn't eaten a tutt for at least a hundred years! He knows how to do a vault when he jumps from the roof to the rivet. Tuomo admires Santa Claus more than anything.