Go For Life 10 Year Celebration

Groups from Dublin take part in National Go for Life Celebration

Older volunteers from Dublin were among the 1,000 people celebrating 10 years of Go for Life, the programme that gets older people more active, more often.

A delegation of people from Dublin were part of Go for Life's celebration of 10 years promoting sport and physical activity with people aged 55 and over. Go for Life is made up of Physical Activity Leaders (or PALs as Go for Life calls them). These PALs are people who volunteer in their local group to lead sport and exercise sessions with their local club or association. Dublin has 109 active PALs who form part of the army of over 1,250 PALs all over Ireland.  They run everything from gentle chair-based exercise through to dancing and hillwalking.  Tommy Hanley, a PAL with Active Living for Older Adults Ballymun said: "I went to the doctor 12 years ago and was told I was overweight and needed to do exercise as I was at risk of heart disease or a stroke.  In the first three years I lost 1 stone 10lbs....I've never felt better"  He also added "I've really enjoyed this celebration.  It's great t o meet so many of my fellow leaders who like myself are getting their friends and group members up and active using Go for Life.  It's a great project and well worth celebrating."  

Last year alone, over 40,000 older people took regular physical activity thanks to ordinary people who became Go for Life PALs. Go for Life also makes a difference by giving small grants to community groups to encourage physical activity.  Last year, 95 Dublin older people's groups received nearly €41,000 from the national Go for Life funding pot of €350,000. 

To mark its 10^th birthday and to thank the PALs all over Ireland, Go for Life threw a party in the Helix in Dublin City University.  Minister Michael Ring TD, Minister of State for Tourism and Sport opened the celebration and was joined by Catherine Rose, CEO of Age & Opportunity and John Treacy, CEO of the Irish Sports Council. This was the first time that PALs met other PALs outside of their own county so, after the Opening Ceremony, PALs got a chance to discuss motivation, sport and fitness over lunch. Afternoon entertainment was supplied by the dance company CoisCéim Broadreach, with jazz man Paddy Cole sending them home swinging. 

Go for Life is the national programme for sport and physical activity.  It is an Age & Opportunity initiative funded by the Irish Sports Council.  To become a PAL, ordinary older adults who are members of community groups can attend workshops to learn how to lead physical activity.  Groups all over Dublin have PALs and many groups will know Go for Life for the annual grant scheme they run which has given over €3million to groups in the last ten year to spend on things like yoga classes, swimming or aqua aerobics, sport equipment or other activities that get people moving. 

Catherine Rose, the CEO of Age & Opportunity also acknowledged the important role of older adults in society "Older peoples' 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 attend this celebration of older 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 the importance of work carried out by PALs "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"