Help us bring the warmth and healing powers of sauna to people suffering from natural or man-made disasters
Donate, raise funds, volunteer or offer materials – everyone in the worldwide sauna/bathing community can take part and make an impact! Sauna Aid stands as a shinning beacon of inspiration, demonstrating to the world how the sauna and related activities can be actively employed to provide assistance and solace to people during times of crises and need.
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The Sauna Aid initiative
Sauna Aid is a multicountry initiative to provide movable sauna and supportive services to people facing natural and man-made disasters. Over the past two years, Sauna Aid has made remarkable strides, thanks to the dedication and collaborative efforts of numerous individuals and organizations around the globe.
We’ve placed a custom-built tent sauna in the heart of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s eastern region, and a Pixxla container sauna just outside Kharkiv, near the Russian border. We installed a Edjusta Iglu sauna, generously donated by the Therme Group, at a local sports stadium in Staryi Sambir, a small town in western Ukraine. With donations from the Bath House of London and the Japanese Sauna Association we delivered two other Edjusta saunas, one to the Kupyansk region in Eastern Ukraine, and the other to the hard-hit Kherson region in the south. Inside the Kupyansk/Kharkiv bound sauna were 5 Harvia M3 wood burning stoves donated by Harvia Sauna and one Narvi 16 stove and water heater, a gift from Narvi of Finland. The extra heating units will be placed in locally built saunas at a later date.
Custom built tent sauna placed in the center of Kharkiv
We have forged a partnership with the Estonian group Saunas4Ukraine, and through that partnership we are attempting to get the president of Ukraine to make a formal request to the Estonian and Finnish government for a fleet of movable saunas and hygiene units.
Sauna Aid continues in the process of designing, constructing, and funding a public sauna complex on Nebo Beach, a beloved recreational spot nestled on the southern shores of the beautifully tree-lined Lake Nahorivske located just outside Kharkiv city limits.
In an effort to support front line doctors and medics we teamed up with the Ukrainian charity fund Repower to provide sauna support for their psychological recovery programs. https://www.repower.ngo/about-en. Last summer Repower bused over 100 medical personal from Ukraine to the Danish city of Silkeborg for a week long healing retreat. Sauna Aid, along with a wood burning mobile sauna operated by Jens Bach, was there to help. https://saunaogsoenner.dk/ Later in the summer Repower hosted 37 frontline medics from Ukraine in Kramfors Municipality, northern Sweden, for a ten-day healing retreat. Sauna Aid, along with a wood burning tent sauna donated by the Swedish company Bast sauna https://bastsauna.com, was there to help.
This week, Sauna Aid, and Bast sauna shipped two wood burning tent saunas Ukraine They will be placed on Nebo Beach, a beloved recreational spot nestled on the southern shores of the beautifully tree-lined Lake Nahorivske a few kilometers south of Kharkiv.
Help us
Finances
Become an ambassador and support on a monthly basis, or make a one-time payment
Services
Provide sauna, accommodations, meals, or transportation services in Denmark / Sweden / Norway
Share our mission
Share information about the project with companies and friends
Supporting organisations
Sauna diplomacy
Sauna Aid actively promotes the practice of Sauna Diplomacy, a tradition especially popular in Finland and other Nordic countries, where saunas hold cultural significance as spaces of relaxation, openness, and equality. The casual, intimate atmosphere of a sauna encourages participants to speak freely, lower their guard, and build genuine connections outside the constraints of traditional diplomatic settings. One famous example of sauna diplomacy occurred during the Cold War, when Finnish President Urho Kekkonen invited Soviet and Western leaders to a secret sauna outside Helsinki, where they could “sweat out” their differences and discuss the future of the world in a unique, informal environment.
Who we are
About The International Sauna Aid Foundation
The International Sauna Aid Foundation is officially registered as a 501c3 non-profit entity with the tax except status required by many potential donors in the US. The Foundation works in coordination with the non-profit International Sauna Association in Helsinki Finland.
About The International Sauna Association (ISA)
The International Sauna Association (ISA) is a non-profit association of over 20 national sauna societies. The ISA was founded in 1958. Its goal is publicizing the sauna and promoting its use on a global scale by rallying supporters of sauna activities in different countries as well as promoting the scientific studies of the history, sociology, and medical benefits of the sauna.
Participating ISA organizations
Japan Sauna Spa Association, Lithuanian Bath Academy, Association of Professional Bathmasters, British Sauna Society, Finnish Sauna Society, Polish Sauna Society, German Sauna Association, Norwegian Sauna Society, Danish Sauna Association, Finnish Embassy in Poland, North American Sauna Society, Swedish Sauna Academy, New Zealand Sauna Society, The Australian Sweat Bathing Association, Finnland-Institut Berlin, Austrian Sauna Society, and the Czech Sauna Association.
Sauna Aid News
Join the Global Effort: Sauna Aid Fundraiser to Provide Relief and Build Saunas in Ukraine
Dear Contributors and Friends of Sauna Aid, With just a few days left until the big event, we want to express our gratitude to the International Sauna Association members (ISA) and Glenn Auerbach's SaunaTimes for their combined efforts in informing a global audience...
One Year of Sauna Aid: Achievements, Challenges, and Future Goals
It has been a year since the International Sauna Association launched Sauna Aid, and in this short time, we have achieved a great deal! Starting from scratch, we quickly built up a strong team from several countries that met regularly online. Collaboratively, we...
WORLD SAUNA AID MOMENT
We invite private sauna owners worldwide to host a sauna party and collect donations for sauna aid. On March 11th, we encourage public sauna/bath owners to contribute proceeds and/or direct donations from guests with sauna aid. The collected money will go towards the...
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If you to like to contribute to Sauna Aid, please fill out the form below