ABOUT FRYSHUSET IN ENGLISH

A vision in reality Fryshuset is more than just a house. It is a vision based on the belief that humanity and justice can only be achieved through commitment, encouragement, self-esteem and enthusiasm gained from real life encounters and experiences. Fryshuset is packed with activities and people from all sectors of society. Young people mix with grown-ups in order to participate, contribute and learn. Fryshuset offers the chance to meet and share passionate interests, as well as engage in social commitment, sports, entertainment, culture and innovative educational programs. Fryshuset has something for everybody.

Fryshuset is a foundation headed by the YMCA. It was founded in 1984 as a result of efforts by the Stockholm YMCA and a couple of determined enthusiasts. Anders Carlberg - the centre’s founding father - was one of them. The first Fryshuset was located in an storage building (Fryshuset means cold store in Swedish), but moved to a bigger location (24 000 square metres) in 1997. A combination of grants, fees and sponsors finance various activities. The annual turnover in 2006 was SEK 180 million, of which 16 million consisted of public funding from the City and County of Stockholm. Fryshuset employs around 350 people and receives approximately 40,000 visitors every month.

At the outset, sports and music were the dominant activities, but as young people began to shape and influence the place, social engagement started to grow as a reflection of the needs of society at large.

One such early injection came from the streets of Stockholm itself. In the summer of 1986 violent riots occurred between groups of immigrants and indigenous teenagers. As a result of this incident, the Swedish government asked Fryshuset to launch a campaign against juvenile crime. So Fryshuset travelled to schools around the country and held seminars on constructive alternatives to violence. During the tour it became obvious that most teenagers deplored violence and had a lot of vital ideas of their own to offer about today’s society and future developments. Since then, Fryshuset has gained a lot of experience about young people’s lives as well as society in general. Fryshuset is constantly changing and developing. Today it is as well known for its social work as it is for education, skateboarding, basketball and music. Fryshuset runs an upper secondary school and has programmes for vocational training, theatre, music, sports, events, concerts and discotheques, debates and lectures. It even has a priest. We can be said to have made steady progress on a journey with no foreseeable end.

Current Activities

The activities at Fryshuset are usually divided into three main areas:

 Social projects

Education

Passionate interests

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