Hjo

Housing

The housing environment in Hjo is tranquil and pretty. The most common form of housing here is in a detached house with a garden, but there are also tenant-owned flats and flats to rent. The main housing company in Hjo municipality is Wennergrens.

Language groups in the locality

Hjo municipality has inhabitants who speak several different languages. Arabic, Dari, Persian, Somali, Mongolian, Tigrinya, Thai, Dutch, Polish and English are spoken, in addition to Swedish.

Associations and organisations

Hjo offers a rich cultural and civic life.

What is available in the immediate area

In Hjo, most of the things you need are within walking distance. Food is available from Ica and Netto. There are cafés, restaurants, food kiosks, and a gambling and sweet shop. The town also has a library where you can borrow books in various langauges, a social services office, pharmacy, cinema, an artificial grass football pitch, sports hall, tennis hall, gym, heated outdoor swimming pool with swimming lessons (open in the summer), bowling hall, electricity shop, clothes shops, a good value and popular home furnishings shop, hairdressers, paint shop, flower shops, banks, etc. There are two second-hand shops, Red Cross and Erikshjälpen, with furniture, clothes and household goods.

Försäkringskassan and Arbetsförmedlingen have offices in Skövde. Arbetsförmedlingen also has an office in Hjo that is open one day a week, on Thursdays between 10.00 and 12.00 and between 13.00 and 16.00. You can take documents that you need to hand in to the office, and ask the staff basic questions. There are regular bus connections between Hjo and Skövde.

The municipality has a labour market unit providing extra support to unemployed persons as well as a refugee unit that tries to help and guide in the best way.

Childcare

Hjo has nine nursery schools and two family day-care centres for children aged 1–5 years. For children aged 6 to 12 years, who need looking after before and after school while parents work, there are after-school clubs.

The family centre Arken is an open nursery school to which parents and children are welcome together.

Compulsory schools and upper secondary schools

There are schools in Hjo for children aged 6 up to and including 15 years old. There is also a youth leisure centre, open in the evenings for children aged from 11 to 18 years old.

Pupils who speak a language other than Swedish at home can get teaching in their own first language, first language teaching. The teaching helps the pupils to develop their language and to learn more about their own culture.

For young persons aged 16 and upwards, there are upper secondary schools in the towns around Hjo. Most attend upper secondary school in Skövde or Tibro.

Education opportunities

Adults can study SfI (Swedish for Immigrants), komvux (upper secondary education for adults), särvux (special upper secondary education for adults) or at Hjo folk high school. At komvux you have several options to find a study format that suits you. You can combine studies at different levels and can combine studies with work. At the folk high school, there are courses within general subjects, preparatory police training, music and art.

The nearest city with a university is Skövde. Skövde College offers the course Korta vägen ("The Short Cut") together with the employment service. The course is aimed at newly arrived persons with academic qualifications.

Health and medical care

Hjo has two medical centres: Hjo vårdcentral and Hälsocentralen. There is also one ante-natal clinic, two child healthcare clinics and a dental clinic. The nearest hospital with an accident and emergency department is in Skövde.

Interpreter assistance

There is interpreter assistance for all languages via Tolkförmedling Väst.

Public transport

There are several bus routes that stop in Hjo. Buses go from Hjo to Tibro, Tidaholm, Skövde and Brandstorp, where you can change to another bus for further travel. Västtrafik takes you by bus from Hjo to Skövde in around 35 minutes. From Skövde there are then trains all over the country with good connections to Göteborg, Stockholm and Jönköoing.

Work and entrepreneurship

Hjo's biggest employer is Hjo municipality, with activities in many different areas. Region Västra Götaland is another major employer, with jobs in medical care and nursing. The municipality is also home to a number of large and small businesses.

Hjo is also close to several towns with large workplaces.​