“We’re not here for a long time. we’re here for a good time!’. It’s only as you get older that you realise this…” says Hazel Masterson (course participant, Changing Gears).
We had a lovely chat recently with Hazel who has been a member of Ballygall Women’s group for the past 19 years. The group was formed at a time when all of the women’s children were young and in playgroup together, and many of the original members are now grandmothers. They continue to welcome new members and meet regularly to enjoy a variety of activities, including holidays, short trips and to participate in facilitated courses. Most recently the group completed our Changing Gears course which focuses on managing transitions in mid to later life and is designed to boost wellbeing and resilience for those aged 50+ years.
We were delighted to hear that the group thoroughly enjoyed the course and found it very useful! Hazel, who is 66 years old and currently managing a chronic health condition says: “… life changes and people change. You don’t feel the same as when you were 20, you have different opinions, different ideas and life means different things to you – so it’s good to upskill, look at yourself and look at your life…. it’s changing all the time.”
We couldn’t agree more! We’d like to give a shout out to the whole group who made it such an enjoyable experience for all and to celebrate them for wholeheartedly embracing the tasks they were presented with.
We’re delighted to add that Hazel is going to be very busy in the coming months with another collaboration – herself and members of her writing group are collectively writing a book about Dublin in the old times. We wish her the best of luck with that and look forward to seeing it published.
This Changing Gears course was funded by the HSE and we run Changing Gears nationwide. For details about how you can get involved in this or other courses delivered by our Engage team, take a look at our website here: https://ageandopportunity.ie/engage/
