Courtesy POST from Donegal Sports Partnership – funding information

Age & Opportunity is delighted to announce the 6th round of
the Go for Life National Grant Scheme for Sport and Physical Activity
for Older People. This year €330,000 will be made available
to local groups to enable their older members to become more involved
in sport and physical activity.

Go for Life is the national programme for sport and physical activity
for older people and is an Age & Opportunity initiative funded
by the Irish Sports Council.

“Over the last four years, the evidence is that applicants
have imagination and integrity in terms of how they use the grant.
The response to the challenge of creating opportunities for older
people to be more physically active is being met in a wide variety
of ways.”- John O’Donoghue T.D., Minister for Arts, Sports
and Tourism

(Dec 2005)

Last year over 500 groups nationwide shared in excess of €300,000
under the fifth phase of the scheme. Successful applicants included
active retirement associations, senior citizens clubs, ICA guilds,
sports clubs, day centres and community centres. The grant aid was
used to buy sports equipment, to fund sport and activity programmes
and to contribute to the cost of organising local sports fests.
Every county in Ireland from Cork to Donegal, Wexford to Galway,
was represented amongst the groups receiving grants.

One of last year’s successful recipients North Leitrim Forum held
a day of physical activity for over 200 older people. “It’s
been great to see older people start to blossom once they begin
to get out and socialise … It keeps people young and alive
and can help relieve the depression often common in isolated rural
areas. This in turn can take the pressure off services, including
the HSE, if older people become more confident and physically able.”
– Brenda Whitley, Active Age Officer with Community Connections.

Application forms are now available from Go for Life c/o Age &
Opportunity Marino Institute of Education, Griffith Avenue, Dublin
9. Tel: 01 805 7733 or email gfl@mie.ie.

Details and Application form are also available from Age &
Opportunity at

www.olderinireland.ie and from the Irish Sports Council www.irishsportscouncil.ie.
Closing date for receipt of applications is 5.00pm on Wednesday
18 October, 2006.

Visit www.olderinireland.ie for more information on the Go for
Life programme or on Age & Opportunity.

Note for Editors: Go for Life is the National Programme for Sport
and Physical Activity for Older People. The programme aims to get
more older people more active more often. Go for Life aims to challenge
stereotypical notions about sedentary lifestyles for older people.

Some Physical Activity Facts:

The benefits of physical activity can be enjoyed even if regular
practice starts late in life.

For people of all ages, physical activity improves quality of life
in many ways:

o it can help relieve the disability and pain associated with common
diseases (like cardiovascular disease, arthritis, osteoporosis,
and hypertension.)

o it can also contribute greatly to the management of some mental
disorders such as depression.

o it improves self-confidence and self-sufficiency-qualities that
are the foundation of psychological well-being.

World Health Organization, Extract from Factsheet: Physical Activity
and older people