Episode 97

In this episode of Mastering Finland regular host Eva gets to meet Kati Mayfield, a lady whose vision is that “no flower should go to waste”.

Kati originally came to Finland from America to study Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management whilst her partner a Finnish-American came with him to connect with his history and heritage.

Eva kicks off the interview by asking what had surprised Kati most when she first came to Finland?

• Finland is very different from the rest of Europe on many levels and definitely not like Paris.
• Learning to love Finland is a slow burn, lifelong process but it is very easy to love it.
• The sincerity of Finnish people is unrivalled. People will be sincerely nice or sincerely not nice, but they always put their heart and minds into things.

Shortly before recording the podcast interview Kati had attended a workshop where people were writing notes for strangers and she’d been impressed by how much thought people were putting into their messages. That level of sincerity was very refreshing for her.

The workshop had been an event that Kati was leading as part of her organisation “Flower Rescue” which uses unwanted flowers from trade and retail sources, as well as from events, then uses them to make gifts and bouquets which are freely given to people who might need them.  These groups include among others : hospitals, care homes, refugee centres, homelessness projects and other who may socially excluded or marginalised.

“Flower Rescue” was set up in 2018 on an entirely voluntary basis and became a registered organisation in 2020, eventually attracting enough funding in 2022 for a small salaried role to expand the project. So far Flower Rescue has had over 600 volunteers and runs workshops and team building events for organisations all year round.  These events also bring in a much needed revenue stream as well as being a way to sort the flowers, make bouquets and distribute them in the community.

It is through participating in a workshop that Eva first met Kati.

Kati’s passion for her project is obvious and contagious and resonates with the charm that flowers bring naturally.  She set up Flower Rescue with sustainability in mind to reduce waste but in a way that brings community benefit.  During the interview Kati describes how that community benefit unfolded into something much wider during the pandemic years, as something much more than just giving flowers.

Like Mastering Finland is and many other brilliant grassroots projects in Finland are, Flower Rescue started entirely with volunteers.  Kati explains that Flower Rescue still relies very heavily on volunteers but cautions that she doesn’t advocate using or offering unpaid labour.  Eva agrees and suggests listeners tune in to the Mastering Finland back catalogue for much wider discussion on this subject for both Finns and foreigners. Both Kati and Eva agree that as a person who can volunteer, knowing that you have something to offer is very empowering.

Eva asks what advice Kati would give to a version of herself that had just arrived on Finland:

• Stick with learning the Finnish language. It is a very valuable and useful asset which cannot be underestimated
• Use a (student) train pass to explore the country as much you can whilst you have time and opportunity.
• Engage with your community – buy local, buy and give flowers and get involved.

If any listener has been inspired by hearing about Flower Rescue and wants to learn more, go to the FlowerRescue website.