REFUFIN project
Refufin 2023-2025 is a project aimed at providing guidance, counselling, and support services to individuals who fled the war in Ukraine and now reside in Finland. The project also includes training for volunteers and the production of support materials.
The project was funded by STEA (Funding Centre for Social Welfare and Health Organisations).
Results of the REFUFIN project (March 2022 – February 2026)
Online Consultations provided (online support)
+ 9,500
160
Trained volunteers
People helped in person (offline support)
+4103
+ 50
Volunteer meetings
For people fleeing the war🇺🇦 🇫🇮
Online help
From 2022 to 2025, REFUFIN volunteers provided online support to people who fled the war in Ukraine. Support requests covered a wide range of everyday integration issues in Finland.
The main role of volunteers was to act as a bridge between people seeking help and available services — helping to understand integration procedures and guiding people to relevant public services.
In-person assistance offline
REFUFIN volunteers provided face-to-face support to people upon arrival in Finland and during interactions with authorities. This included meeting people at arrival points, accompanying them to government offices, supporting communication and translation, and assisting with form filling.
Volunteers also supported practical matters such as opening bank accounts and attending official appointments together. In this role, volunteers acted as tukihenkilö — trusted support persons during the integration process.
Materials and information
We provided access to resources and information that could help people from Ukraine better understand their rights and their services. This includes translated materials and online resources.
VOLUNTEERS
Over the years, the REFUFIN volunteer programme grew into a mindful and values-based community united by a shared mission of solidarity, responsibility, and two-way integration.
For many volunteers, particularly those with a migrant background, participation in REFUFIN became an important pathway to integration. The programme offered opportunities to build social networks, develop practical and professional skills, gain relevant experience, and strengthen future career prospects. Through their engagement, volunteers found new connections, new friendships, and, for many, new beginnings in Finland.
Through the REFUFIN volunteer community, both volunteers and those they supported were able to feel more connected to Finnish society and more at home in Finland. This community dimension became one of the project’s most meaningful and lasting impacts.
Refufin goals
1
Refufin volunteers will provide support and assistance to Ukrainian and Russian speakers who have fled the war. We want to make sure that they receive support and assistance from the Finnish authorities.
2
Refufin volunteers are capable of recognizing their own abilities, and wellbeing and evaluating their own performance mindfully while volunteering.
Contact information
Project Manager
Refufin-Project darya.gulik@houseofhelsinki.fi
Darya Gulik
Nikolay Gofman
Project Coordinator
Refufin-Project nikolay.gofman@houseofhelsinki.fi
REFUFIN 2022
With the help of REFUFIN volunteers and partners
we safely transported 3000+
Ukrainian temporary protection or asylum seekers
from Poland to Finland.