The association's action plan

This is the action plan created by Aisti Sport ry's board for the 2026–2027 operating season. The operating season always begins on 1 June and ends on 31 May. The action plan sets out the priorities for our work, along with the goals set for them and the measures for achieving those goals. The plan also describes the coming season's plans sport by sport and area by area. The purpose of the action plan is to create a plan and a foundation for our work which, when followed, allows Aisti Sport ry's activities to keep developing.

Aisti Sport ry's work, in all its breadth, has developed and grown very quickly right from its founding year of 2017. The club has developed into a multi-sport club where visually impaired and non-disabled people in particular can take part inclusively, from childhood to retirement age.

The action plan begins by setting the priorities for the association's general activity. The priorities are the areas the board has highlighted, in which changes are sought during that operating season. After that, the plans are gone through area by area.

1. Priorities

1.1. Marketing the club

Goal: To develop the marketing of the club's activities and Aisti Sport's profile, and through that to increase participant numbers.

Measures:

Draw up a communications and marketing plan, including social media guidelines, to give marketing work continuity and guidance that is easy to put into practice.
Recruit more than one — preferably at least three — willing and active marketing volunteers.
Set up a dedicated working group for marketing and communications work.
Market what we do regularly and engagingly.
Establish a regular, “sufficiently early” publishing rhythm for marketing.
Create new events or initiatives through which new participants are reached.

1.2. Financial resources

Goal: To increase financial boldness in developing the club's activities, while taking financial sustainability into account.

Measures

Develop how money is used in order to develop our activities and reach new participants, by improving conditions and events.
Review the pricing of our activities broadly during autumn 2026, re-pricing activities for the spring season of 2027 as needed. Pricing will also take into account costs outside the activities themselves, such as premises and administrative expenses, separating fundraising income from them.
Review the levels of fee payments.
Strengthen the transparency of financial management within the board and the working groups, involving the whole board and the sport leads in financial decisions.

1.3. Volunteering, particularly in leadership roles

Goal: To develop continuity in leadership roles and the quality of volunteering.

Measures:

Make the running of the club more transparent, particularly within the board, by sharing leadership duties more openly across it.
Give board members, and the vice-chair in particular, more responsibility than before.
List duties by area of responsibility and activity, in the working groups as well as the board.
Guide the working groups and sport leads in drawing up an annual calendar for their activities.
Strengthen a way of working in the board and the working groups in which prioritising and scheduling tasks — and sticking to that schedule — are emphasised.
Thank volunteers for the work they do and raise the regard in which that work is held.

2. Plans by area of activity

2.1. Finance and administration

Finance is raised as a priority of its own above, and is led with the measures given there. As core work, the appropriate notifications are made to the authorities, carrying out club work in accordance with the rules. The parties and individuals taking part in activities are invoiced. In addition, appropriate premises, facility slots, payment of wages and expense reimbursements, and insurance are taken care of. Financial management is carried out in accordance with the budget.

In administrative work, the efficiency of working and keeping to schedule are developed. Concrete ways of doing this include an even division of duties, clarity in the board's agendas and minutes, and personal accountability among those in positions of responsibility for the commitments they make and their timing. Administrative measures are also covered above, in the priority of its own on leadership roles and volunteering.

2.2. Fundraising

Funds are raised principally from membership fees, participation fees and by selling fundraising products. In addition, sport taster sessions are run and partnerships sought. The tournaments and camps the association organises, and its activities generally, are delivered in a financially sustainable way.

Funds are raised by making use, where possible, of the grant and subsidy schemes of the City of Vantaa and of various organisations and foundations. Award grants and prize money directed at general activity are applied for where possible from the bodies that award them.

The profitability of the online shop used for fundraising is improved by reviewing pricing so that it generates a return. Fundraising can also be developed through better, more engaging marketing.

2.3. Membership

As core work, members are given price reductions on activities and on the club's products. Members are told about various events and sport taster sessions. In addition, an annual party and awards gala are held for members. Most importantly, physical activity and sport are delivered in accordance with the rules.

A data-protected member register is maintained and updated after every board meeting. Joining as a member is kept easy, and when data is collected the membership applications explain the club's data protection and operating principles.

2.4. Goalball

In goalball, we take part in the national leagues in both the open and the men's Championship League. Two tournaments in the national goalball leagues are organised, along with the women's Championship tournament. Where the occasion arises, we take part in the European club championship league for men and women. In addition, opportunities to take part in other international tournaments are scouted and offered as they arise.

Weekly sessions are held that accommodate participants of every level. In addition, training days or technique courses are held, taking participants' needs into account.

The standard of the weekly coaching is developed so as to advance sport-specific skills, with individual needs better taken into account. The pacing of activity is also improved, taking competitions and camps into account from the very start of the season.

The work of the goalball working group is developed by dividing duties more clearly and efficiently than before. Standardised ways of working and areas of responsibility are developed further for the working group.

Getting into teams and team selections are made more transparent and more open, following the club's game rules. Expressing interest in competitive teams and match events is made possible in the ways set out in the game rules, taking into account the level of competition described there.

The most optimal ways of running weekly training are investigated and developed as needed in cooperation with Suomen Näkövammaisjääkiekko ry. In any weekly activity, participants are offered instruction, equipment to borrow and playing kit. If weekly activity is run, good facilities are made possible for taking part as a whole, aiming to develop the activity by listening to participants and coaches. The annual national blind hockey camp is organised at a sports centre suited to the situation. Volunteers are recruited to develop the activity and, where possible, to restart the working group.

2.6. Showdown

Weekly activity continues with two sessions a week with different emphases. One focuses on playing and the other on drills. In one session the aim is to maintain a more individual approach to instruction, and in the other to encourage self-directed repetition of drills in a game-like way.

The work of the showdown working group is developed and involved more than before. The activity is developed by sharing responsibility and maintaining good team spirit, so that the active members are not overloaded. Instructors and participants are listened to in order to develop the activity.

The showdown Finnish Cup tournament is prepared and held in spring 2027. A new showdown table is acquired to make the tournament possible and to improve training conditions. Two showdown tables in good condition are bought inexpensively from the Paralympic Committee. An external organiser is supported in running the Myyrmäki team competition, if one takes place.

We stand ready to deliver an international Erasmus project, should the Finnish Paralympic Committee take its project forward in cooperation with Aisti Sport.

An active, enthusiastic sport coordinator is recruited to develop football activity. The activity is developed together with participants and coaches, led by the person responsible for the sport, so that everyone can take part in blind football in a way that makes sense to them. Blind football activity is planned and delivered at least for the summer season. Effort is invested in finding a committed coach or instructor and a sport coordinator.

Coached, low-threshold blind tennis training is delivered twice a week. Weekly activity is developed under the lead of the person responsible for the sport, together with the coaches and by listening to participants, so that everyone can take part in tennis in a way that makes sense to them. Conditions for B1 tennis in particular are improved through the indoor sports hall slot. The development of blind tennis in Finland is followed and, as needed, opportunities for cooperation at various blind tennis events are explored.

2.9. Children and young people

Weekly activity is run in the Aisti Play and Aisti Games groups. Aisti Play runs two inclusive groups, split by age into younger/older. Aisti Games runs a ball sports club playing games familiar from the rest of our range of sports. The aim is for young people to try sport in a varied way and, possibly, to make visits to different sports venues. Aisti Play's age split is reviewed to serve demand better. Bringing in new participants is important, so the priority is marketing.

In the autumn, a camp aimed at children and young people with their families — Aisti Games Camp — is held, aiming to reach many participants nationwide. At the camp a varied range of sports is presented through taking part.

Interested instructors and volunteers continue to be sought for children's and young people's activities. Even though the instructors look set to stay the same, it is also possible that there will be departures and a need for cover. Children's activity has no working group, but the person responsible for the sport compiles a list of interested people who can plan and lead events and camps for children and families.

2.10. Communications and marketing

Aisti Sport ry's communications are maintained across all of the association's channels: the website, social media, WhatsApp and stakeholders' own channels. The association's social media channels are its Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok accounts. Internal communication with the membership is delivered in the WhatsApp community, to which every club member has been invited. Public communication is delivered on the website, on social media and through stakeholders' channels.

Content is produced regularly for the aistisport.com website, and the site is kept current so as to serve the people using it. Content that markets the club's activities, and is otherwise interesting, inspiring and expressed in a positive way, is published regularly on the social media channels. The YouTube channel is maintained at least to the extent that the possibility of new video content for the channel is always considered. Information about the club's activities and events is shared with stakeholders by email or through other channels, so that stakeholders can market Aisti Sport ry's activities to a suitable audience. The communication channels Aisti Sport ry uses work consistently, and the content across the different channels is mutually reinforcing. The club's slogan "we all have a dream" is visible in the club's communications and marketing. Communications and marketing are maintained by more than one person.

Opportunities are monitored and new partners and sponsors sought, while existing partnerships are maintained as financial support for the club and to develop Aisti's profile. In partnerships, communication in line with the agreements is taken care of, both publicly and internally through private messages between the partners and the club. In public communication, partnerships are given visibility in accordance with the agreements, and it is ensured that the sport taster sessions the club offers, and the products and services on general sale, are visible externally.

The measures listed above under the "marketing the club" priority are followed in order to develop marketing.

2.11. Other sports and taster sessions

Various sport taster sessions are held as the occasion arises, or events run by stakeholders are promoted. Taster sessions advance members' physical activity and the variety of it. Taster sessions are organised with the rest of our core work in mind, so that resources and volunteers' capacity are not disrupted. Through taster sessions the aim is to advance self-directed physical activity and an active life in particular, bringing different opportunities for activity to people's attention — where possible even on a more national scale. As a starting point, new taster sessions do not need to become part of the club's weekly activity.

Taster sessions are also held for stakeholders, organisations, partners and companies as part of fundraising. At those events the starting aim is to raise funds for the club's activities, and they are delivered so as to be financially profitable.

2.12. Events

The statutory annual general meeting is held, along with the annual party and awards gala. Preparations begin for the club's 10th anniversary celebrations, which can be held in connection with the annual general meeting and party in summer 2027. Events that increase the club's sense of community and cross the boundaries between sports, such as the Christmas party, are created and held. To present and market our work, we take part in various occasions and events when invited. Careful judgement is used in deciding whether to attend those events, so that the club's core work is not disrupted.