December 6th Old Town Raahe Advent Calendar

It was the end of the 20th century. The door of the former fire station swung open. In walked a young person with a referral from the Raahe employment office. "Is this the youth workshop?" they asked. "Yes, it is," came the reply. 

In 1995, the Raahe City Council decided to allocate the former fire station for use by the Youth Workshop. The metal department moved in there in November 1995, and the kitchen followed in April 1996. The Youth Workshop operated until the year 2000, offering young people the opportunity to engage in productive work during a six-month employment period, which included 160 hours of training. 

The activities were diverse. 

 The former fire station's garage was renovated into the workshop for metalwork, where young individuals primarily refurbished customers' cars. 

The kitchen was developed to provide healthy daily meals for the young participants. Each youngster took turns working in the kitchen for a week. Upstairs, a computer workshop was established, initially focusing on training young people. The youth in the video workshop filmed and produced a music video for a well-known heavy metal band.   

In the youth café, individuals could watch TV and play games. Out of the eight computers in the workshop, two were available for the café's use. The café offered coffee, soda, bulk candies, buns, and pizza.