SPORT FOR OLDER PEOPLE The Irish Sports Council allocates €350,000
ISC ALLOCATES €350,000 IN SPORTS GRANTS FOR OVER 600 OLDER PEOPLE’S GROUPS
Our older people have contributed enormously to the building of modern 21st century Ireland. We must continue to recognize and reward that contribution by ensuring our older people are given every opportunity to remain active in their community and sport has a pivotal role in achieving this. These grants allow older people to decide for themselves how they choose to be more active and they are making a huge contribution to improving the physical, social and psychological well-being of those getting on in age.
Seamus Brennan T.D., Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism
627 groups nationwide will share an allocation of €350,000 under the seventh Go for Life National Grant Scheme for Sport and Physical Activity for Older People. Mr. Seamus Brennan T.D., Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, announced details of the allocations today under the Go for Life national grant scheme, which aims to help local clubs and organisations to increase opportunities for their older members to actively participate in recreational sport and a range of physical activities.
This year almost 900 applications were received from older people’s groups all over the country. The 627 successful applicants include active retirement associations, senior citizens clubs, ICA guilds, sports clubs, Local Sports Partnerships, day centres and community centres in 26 counties. The grant aid is being used to buy sports equipment and to fund sport and activity programmes.
Speaking at the announcement, John Treacy, Chief Executive of the Irish Sports Council said: Under our current strategy the Council has a stated objective to increase adult participation rates in sport and physical activity by 1.5%. Go for Life has proven over the last seven years to be a significant intervention to get older people more active and particularly to reduce the number of totally inactive older people.
Minister Brennan today also launched a research report that was jointly commissioned by Go for Life and the Irish Sports Council. The report ‘Physical Activity and Sport: Participation and Attitudes of Older People in Ireland’ was compiled by researchers Ipsos MORI. 1000 people over 50 years of age were interviewed about their participation in and attitudes to physical activity.
The report found that 39% of older people participate in sport and recreational physical activity regularly but that only 15% are doing enough to maintain and improve their health. For most of those who are active, walking is their preferred activity while the next most popular activity, in terms of participation is golf.
58% of older people in Ireland are classified as having a sedentary lifestyle but the report found that a majority of those who do not engage in regular sporting or physical activity believe that they do an adequate amount of exercise. 40% of those surveyed agreed that they would like to participate in sport and physical activity at a higher level than they are able to. This suggests that there is a latent appetite for increased physical activity among older people in Ireland.
Launching the report, Minister Brennan commented: “This government is committed to improving the quality of life of older people through initiatives like the Go for Life Programme which continues to develop new and creative ways to ensure a healthy, active, older age for all.”
Go for Life is an Age & Opportunity initiative which is funded by the Irish Sports Council. At today’s announcements, Catherine Rose, CEO, Age & Opportunity acknowledged the financial and practical assistance of the Irish Sports Council for the initiative: “Age & Opportunity is very pleased to have the support of the Irish Sports Council for the Go for Life project. Being physically active is probably the most important thing that any of us can do if we want to maintain our independence into older age. We are very keen to get the Go for Life message out so that more older people are empowered to make the changes in their lives that will best support their health and well-being.”
For Further Information:
Mary Harkin, Go for Life 01-8057733
Ann Leahy or Sue Russell, Age & Opportunity 01-8057709
O’Herlihy Communications 01-6602744
Additional Information
Go for Life is the National Programme for Sport and Physical Activity for Older People. Go for Life is an Age & Opportunity initiative which is funded by the Irish Sports Council. Since its establishment in 2003 the programme has 3,500 grants to groups for older people worth a total of €2.25 million.
Further details about the Go for Life Programme can be found on www.olderinireland.ie The Go for Life Steering Committee is chaired by Robert Grier (Employer Representative at the Labour Court) and is made up of representatives of the Irish Sports Council, Age & Opportunity, the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament, Active Retirement Ireland, and the National Council on Ageing and Older People.