Small Grants Making A Big Difference

• The Irish Sports Council Allocates almost €350,000 in older people's sports grants
• 23,000 people benefitted directly from scheme in 2008
• 59% of Ireland's older people need to take part in more physical activity.

740 groups nationwide will share an allocation of almost €350,000 under the ninth Go for Life National Grant Scheme for Sport and Physical Activity for Older People. Áine Brady, T.D., Minister of State, Department of Health and Children with responsibility for Older People and Health Promotion 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 over 900 applications were received from older people’s groups all over the country. The 740 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. In 2008 an estimated 23,296 older people participated directly in programmes funded by this scheme.

Making the announcement Áine Brady, T.D. stated “In the last nine years over 5,000 grants have been allocated under this scheme to local groups of older people to increase their participation in sport and physical activity. These grants allow people to decide for themselves how to be more active and they are making a huge contribution to improving the physical, mental and social well-being of older people throughout the country.”

Speaking at the announcement, John Treacy, Chief Executive of the Irish Sports Council said: “Our vision in the Irish Sports Council is one where participation in sport and physical activity enhances quality of life. Go for Life has proven over the last nine years to be a significant intervention to get older people more active and more involved in a huge range of sporting activities with all of the life changing benefits that this brings.”

Minister Brady today also launched a research report that was jointly commissioned by Age & Opportunity’s Go for Life programme 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. This survey is a repeat of the 2006 benchmark study and researchers again asked 1000 people over 50 years of age about their participation in and attitudes to sport and physical activity.

The survey found that the overall level of participation among older people in Ireland is low with 59% of older people not taking enough exercise to reap any health benefits. However the quality of participation is improving with a 4% increase in the numbers of older people who are highly active. It also indicates that sports participation remains skewed towards males, higher socio-economic professional groups and those aged between 50 and 64 years of age.

“As in 2006, one of the key elements of interest to us in this research report is the notion that social participation leads to sporting participation so that the more engaged you are with the people around you the more likely you are to be physically active. Go for Life will continue to reach out to those who are least connected to their communities, least active and who have the most to gain by greater social and sporting participation” said Robert Grier, Chairman of the Go for Life Steering Committee at the launch today.

Go for Life is an Age & Opportunity initiative which is funded by the Irish Sports Council. At today’s announcements, John Hynes, Chairman, Age & Opportunity acknowledged the financial and practical assistance of the Irish Sports Council for the initiative: “The partnership between Age & Opportunity and the Irish Sports Council is making a significant difference to the quality of life of many older people and we look forward to further strengthening our alliance as the Go for Life programme continues to grow.”

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 2001 the programme has allocated over 5,000 grants to groups for older people worth a total of €2.9 million.

The Go for Life Steering Committee is chaired by Robert Grier and is made up of representatives of the Irish Sports Council, Age & Opportunity, the Health Service Executive, the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament, Active Retirement Ireland, and the National Council on Ageing and Older People.

Find out more about Go for Life from the Go for Life section of this website.