The Centre of Assistance / Avustajakeskus
Do you have a personal assistant or are you looking for one? Or are you an assistant? The Centre of Assistance (later ”Avustajakeskus”) can help with all matters related to assistance. Avustajakeskus operates in Southwest Finland and Satakunta. It is run by The Association of Muscle Deseases in Southwestern Finland.
Find more about Avustajakeskus. Contact us if you want to know more or get involved! Contact details are at the bottom of the page.
The values of Avustajakeskus
These values always underpin everything we do:
- We support people’s participation, i.e. their ability to influence their own lives
- We serve everyone professionally and respect the joy of doing
- Our operations make economic sense. Helping people and ensuring continuity is important to us.
- Together with our clients, we know how and we succeed
Activities of Avustajakeskus
We help people who have an assistant or who are assistants in many ways. In addition, everyone can volunteer to help us.
Support and information
- The aim of Avustajakeskus is to promote the independent living of people who need help. They must also have the opportunity to participate in society. This means access to education, hobbies and social contacts, for example. We will help and advise you to get the right help.
- We also provide training and support for our assistants.
- We cooperate a lot with others, for example with municipalities, wellbeing services counties and organisations. One form of cooperation is the basic training of Avustajakeskus.
Become a volunteer
Avustajakeskus has a wide range of volunteer activities. These activities help people and communities, and everyone can get involved.
Volunteers don’t need to have a specific training, just a willingness to help. Volunteering gives you a good feeling and something fun to do.
You can choose how you help. Clients are different and of different ages. The client pays 7 € for a voluntary visit. The reimbursement is a fee to cover the volunteer’s own travel costs.
Personal assistance activities in Avustajakeskus
Would you like to work as a personal assistant? You can find out about job vacancies through Avustajakeskus. A personal assistant is paid for his or her work. In general, a personal assistant helps a person with a disability in his or her normal life at home and elsewhere, such as at work, studies or leisure activities.
A person with a disability has the right to personal assistance. This is laid down in the Finnish Disability Services Act.
The purpose of personal assistance is to ensure that a person can live an independent life, even if he or she has a disability or illness. They choose their personal assistant and are their employer. Avustajakeskus can help him or her with issues such as finding an assistant and dealing with the employment relationship.
Take part in training or come to a course
Avustajakeskus offers a wide range of training and courses for assistants. All training and courses are free and open to all. The teaching is in Finnish. Finnish language level B1.1. is sufficient in training and in activities. This level means that the person knows normal Finnish words and can discuss ordinary life issues with others.
Contact details for Avustajakeskus
We are available in Finnish on 02 251 8549 from Mondays to Thursdays.
Assistant Dispatch from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. A person with a disability can inform Avustajakeskus that he or she is looking for a personal assistant. You can also ask for a volunteer assistant who is not paid.
Guidance and counselling from Mondays to Thursdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. During the guidance and counselling hours, you can call to ask about job vacancies or volunteer opportunities. You can also sign up for Assistant Infos, courses and training. You can also ask for advice on anything related to assisting.
If you would like service in Swedish, English or Russian, please contact us
- By email: avustajakeskus@avustajakeskus.fi
- or by using the by using the contact form
We will reply to you within three (3) business days at the latest. Weekdays are the days from Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).