The Kukkia Kaikille program brings meaningful flower art experiences to people at the margins.

Kukkia Kaikille makes flowers accessible to our elderly neighbors by bringing floral materials (fresh flowers and foliage) and floral design/art workshops to elderly folks who might not otherwise get to enjoy flowers - those who live in care facilities and those who live alone at home. 

At FloweRescue we believe that flowers are for everyone. While we respect the sartorial art of floral design, we also want to make flowers accessible to everyone, both by breaking down the price barrier (this is why we donate all of our flowers) and by helping everyone to feel comfortable interacting and creating with flowers. As one friend of FloweRescue says, "sharing flowers is our love language."

The aim of the Kukkia Kaikille is not only to bring joy through flowers, but also to engage people in the special experience of floral design.

Through Kukkia Kaikille we share our flower knowledge and expertise with elder care practitioners and volunteers, and then co-create regular flower workshops for the people they serve.

Since launching Kukkia Kaikille in May 2022 we have trained 83 practitioners, and facilitated over 100 flower workshops for 400 senior citizens.

We piloted Kukkia Kaikille with 14 care home and community partners in 2022, thanks to a grant from the City of Helsinki.

In 2023-24 we are expanding the program to serve a few more partners in Helsinki, and we are applying for additional funding to expand the program to new places and new audiences.

Flowers and well-being

For many years at FloweRescue we donated our flowers ready-made as bouquets. Especially during the isolating times of the covid pandemic, these bouquets were a gesture of solidarity and connection between our volunteers and the people who received them. But in talking with our beneficiaries, partners and volunteers we realized that, though it's beautiful to receive a bouquet, flowers have an even more profound impact for each person when they get to create their own bouquet, arrangement or any other flower art.

So that's what Kukkia Kaikille is all about, the act of floral creation!

And with our program partners we study whether, and how, the creative flower activities influence well-being for the participants and workshop facilitators.

“Kukkien käsitteleminen vaikutti positiivisesti mielialaani.” /  “Handling flowers had a positive effect on my mood.”

Of the practitioners who responded to our survey after hosting the flower workshops, 100% report that participants' mood increases; and 96% observed that socialization also increased. Of those elderly folks who have given direct feedback, 97% replied affirmatively when asked if the flower workshop improved their well-being. 

View this PDF to read more about the activities and outcomes of the pilot year of the Kukkia Kaikille program.