Welcome to Riksula, the common living room of the townspeople

The tunes of the Saarenmaa waltz play in Riksula, the meeting place, while Hannu Peltola sings lively karaoke. The cozy space is full of dancing couples, some of whom even move to the side of the corridor to spin.

Riksula's operations director Alma Ylätalo dances with "regular customer" Kauno Laine, and after thanking her for the waltz, she states that the dances on Tuesday at 12 o'clock are definitely the most popular event of the week.

"Sometimes I can organize live music, and then there is a lot of people. There are fewer men than women, and they dance with everyone sweating, and the rest of us go as girl couples," Ylätalo laughs.

Liisa Laine, who is reading a magazine at the table, says that she visits Riksula two or three times a week, because it is so centrally located in the Travel Center.

"During a business trip, I sit down for morning coffee and chat with people. This is a really important place for many people living alone. Sometimes I'm on the record council, because I like music."

Matti Hellström sits down at the same table and says that he lives 10 minutes' walk away and that he and his wife visit Riksula 4-5 times a week. Due to leg problems, she misses dancing, but participates in many other groups.

"I especially like the trivia quiz, the record board and the culture club, where you get to know works of art and interesting people. On Thursdays, I do language teaching for immigrants at SPR's language cafe."

Chair jumping, exercise and music are popular

Riksula has been operating for a year in the empty business premises of Matkakeskus, which the Riihimäki recycling center has decorated to make it homey. There are daily clubs and activities, and associations can book meeting rooms there. Any citizen of the city can come for a coffee, hang out or play cards. Payment for coffee and sandwich is according to conscience.

Alma Ylätalo, the spirit of Riksula, plans the program together with the visitors. He praises his job as a fulfilling dream job, where he can develop activities independently and creatively.

"Our forced Swedish club started as a joke, when there were so many intellectual people there that we occasionally spoke a few words of Swedish. We laughed at our incompetence, but we started a compulsory Swedish club in October. We got more people there than I expected! On the other hand, if a group fades away, we come up with a new one to replace it."

An important day activity location

Riksula is a meeting place for groups of all ages. For example, a family cafe gathers on Fridays, but the place is mostly taken over by seniors. There are also a lot of people visiting immigrants' Suomi cafes.

"Many associations hold their meetings here and they take care of the space rent by participating in the activities. For example, the Riihimäki hikers' association runs group runs, and the Riihimäki pensioners' association guides bocce and chair jumping."

At Riksula's one-year anniversary, regular customers received a diploma, as many have been coming since the first day. They come right from nine in the morning and stay until closing time at 15 pm. Many have made friends in Riksula.

"The karaoke and dance group might come here for morning coffee, but they go elsewhere to a club and maybe come again in the afternoon. We can have more than a hundred people a day, especially at the beginning of the week."

New program every month

Riksula's operations will not move to the new welfare area, but will remain the responsibility of the city of Riihimäki.

"There is a need for senior services that support functional capacity. I'm the only paid employee here, but we have a lot of job testers, employed and Finnish as a second language students."

Riksula's monthly program is published a week before the new moon. Social media is actively updated, but the paper program is also taken to bulletin boards.

"Our Instagram followers include many daughters who have told their mothers about Riksula. At Riksula, I help customers with digital skills every day, for example we download applications to the phone. Otherwise, I help as much as I can, I direct the person, for example, to some service that he hasn't found himself."

Reija Ypyä