Go for Life Celebrates 10 Years with a Thousand Volunteers

Over 1,000 older volunteers from across Ireland joined Minister Michael Ring TD in the Helix in Dublin to celebrate Go for Life's tenth birthday. Go for Life is the national programme for sport and physical activity for older people. The volunteers have trained with Go for Life as Physical Activity Leaders (PALs) so that they can lead people in their local group or club in sport or physical activity.

Last year alone, over 40,000 older people took part in anything from gentle chair-based exercises through to Zumba dancing and kayaking, thanks to Go for Life.

Minister Ring, Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, opened the celebration and was joined by Catherine Rose, CEO of Age & Opportunity, John Treacy, CEO of the Irish Sports Council and Barbara Nolan, Head of the European Commission Representation in Ireland. This was a rare occasion for PALs to meet other PALs outside of their own county so, after the Opening Ceremony, they got a chance to swap stories over lunch. Afternoon entertainment was supplied by the dance company CoisCéim Broadreach, followed by musician and entertainer Paddy Cole.

Go for Life is an Age & Opportunity initiative funded by the Irish Sports Council. Older adults from all walks of life, who are members of community groups, attend workshops to learn how to lead physical activity with their groups.

Catherine Rose, the CEO of Age & Opportunity acknowledged the important role of older adults in society "Older people's participation enriches Irish society in so many ways. Their contribution, for example, to sport, the arts or community development is often not noticed. I'm delighted to celebrate with these volunteers who, all over the country, are helping themselves and their peers to stay active."

John Treacy, the CEO of the Irish Sports Council emphasised how important the work of the PALs is: "Our research shows that as people get older, they are less and less active, even though we know how important sport and physical activity are for maintaining our health as we age. These volunteer PALs are using their skills all over the country to reverse this trend and making being physically active easier for themselves and other older people"