Giving vulnerable adults a space to relax and play games

In June 2022, Splash Projects went to Helsinki, Finland, with INSEAD Business School.

In one day, a team of 25 created a multi-purpose sports and seating area for Sininauha Oy charity which works with people at risk of homelessness and suffering from substance abuse and poor mental health.

Thanks to them, residents at the base in Vantaa have a new space to relax and play games together, boosting morale and wellbeing.

“The residents felt like outcasts of society and weren’t used to having something done for them, other than a roof being put over their heads,” said Project Director Colin Robertson. “The charity would never have had the finances to provide what this project did – an outside community space for them to come together, which is probably now the heart and soul of the building.”

A key component of a Splash Project is giving teams ownership over their project, giving participants full control over how they finish the build within the time frame.

“This was the first project I’ve been on where the participants chose not to have a leadership team; they had such faith in one another to contribute,” continued Colin. “This opened up a really interesting conversation afterwards about the pros and cons of this decision.

“Every Splash Project is different, because every team is different and every business has a different culture and approach; we hand over ownership to them and they get to choose how to get to the end same end, while we facilitate this.

“Who’s to say what is the right or wrong way of doing something? There’s no rule book for the perfect way to approach a Splash Project and this is what people love about it.”