Women from the Finnish Friendly Visiting Service have yarn-bombed a tree in Pier Street to mark the 40th anniversary of the opening of Finnish Hall in Altona.
Co-ordinator Satu Sidwell, whose family came to Australia in the late ’50s, says the tree decoration will remain for as long as nature allows.
“It’s one of the activities we thought some of our elderly citizens might like to get involved in,” she said.
The visiting service, which meets at the hall on Mondays, is a social support group funded by Home and Community Care.
Ms Sidwell said many Finnish migrants who came to Australia settled in Melbourne’s west.
“Quite a few of them, we went to the migrants’ hostel in Maribyrnong when we first came out.”
She said the Pier Street hall became home to Melbourne’s Finns after “someone saw it up for sale”.
“It used to be the Red Robin sock factory,” she said
The hall, which is headquarters of the Finnish Society of Melbourne, was originally a resource for 23 Finnish families living in Altona and around Melbourne.
