OP Uusimaa Christmas gift collection for patients at children's hospitals

Our Christmas gift collection is an annual well-being event that brings Christmas spirit to both the donor and the recipient and their family. Both private individuals and organisations and communities can be donors to the collection. The gift to be donated must be new and unused – either homemade or purchased. Gift cards in particular are popular gifts. However, please do not donate food, cash, or gambling-related products. The gift does not need to be wrapped, but you can slip it into a gift bag or pouch if you wish. The collected gifts are delivered by the Association of Friends of the University Children's Hospitals to children's hospitals in the Uusimaa region, from where they are distributed directly to families and children before Christmas without intermediaries or costs.

We will publish the Christmas 2026 collection period and locations in November. Follow our communications!

Why do we collect Christmas gifts? 

In addition to homes, Christmas is also celebrated in hospitals every year. Young patients and their families spend long periods of time in the hospital, which is why it is important that they feel comfortable and safe there. Everyday life in a hospital environment becomes more homely with the help of, among other things, various interesting stimuli and comfortable living spaces. When you can take your mind off a demanding illness from time to time, it is easier to cope with stressful treatment procedures, for example. Children's hospitals have a lot of patients for very different reasons, such as cancer, heart disease, planned operations, examinations, and mental health disorders. In 2024, young patients spent a total of almost 100,000 nights in hospitals supported by the Association of Friends of the University Children's Hospitals. HUS's specialised medical care for children and adolescents provides services to 374,000 children in Uusimaa and to the most difficult-to-treat paediatric patients in all of Finland.

OP Uusimaa is a partner of the Association of Friends of the University Children's Hospitals

OP Uusimaa supports the development of drug and device research for children and adolescents at the New Children's Hospital. Children are not small adults, yet many medications have only been extensively studied in adults. The aim of our support is to enable more efficient, more researched and safer medical care for children and young people. Our partner is the the Association of Friends of the University Children's Hospitals. 

We have supported this important work with approximately 600,000 euros during 2023–2025. The cooperation will also continue in 2026.