ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë Finland – the Sporty Section
The 70th anniversary of the ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë has been as exceptional for Section Finland as in all other countries and regions. Although Section Finland did not organise a special anniversary event, it had some memorable moments during the year, especially around outdoor sport events.
Throughout its history, ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë Finland has been active in organising sport events for its members. This year, as in many previous years, Section Finland built its own team for a national cycling campaign Kilometre Race. With 76 team members, ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë Finland formed the biggest police team in the campaign. During the pandemic, cycling turned out to be one of the most popular ways to do sports in Finland, with over 3000 registered teams and over 30 million km cycled inside the campaign alone.
Another example of ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë Finland’s sporty year was the first ever football tournament organised between the subdivisions of ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë Finland. Four teams gathered in the capital region for the tournament with great ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë spirit and fair play, as can be noticed from the picture. ☺
Alongside sports, Section Finland contributed to the educational side of the ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë by hosting and lecturing a webinar on ‘Combatting Terrorism and Violent Extremism’. In collaboration with Gimborn and ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë UK, the webinar consisted of 6 interesting lectures on terrorism, with two lectures by experts from Finnish police forces.
On Tuesday 17th November 2020, Section Finland made history by hosting the annual meeting virtually for the first time ever. The meeting was well run by our national President Jari Kinnunen, with over 50 members participating in the meeting from sub-divisions from all over Finland with their laptops and phones.
Despite the exceptional and in many ways dark times, ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë Finland believes strongly in the future with emerging young and active ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë members and culturally diverse and rich upcoming events with ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë friends.
We wish you and the whole ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë community Merry Christmas and brightness for the year 2021!
Servo per Amikeco!
Jorma Niemi, 1st Vice President & Mikko Värri, National Treasurer, ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë Finland