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Go For Life
Age & Opportunity is the Irish national organisation working to
promote greater participation by older people in society. It works in a
broad range of areas from the arts to physical activity, from
challenging ageism to promoting greater empowerment by older
people.
Go for Life is an Age & Opportunity initiative and is the national
programme for sport and physical activity for older people funded by
the Irish Sports Council.
The aim of Go for Life is to involve more older adults in all aspects
of sport and physical activity more often. The thrust of the
programme is to empower and enable older people by reaching
out to active retirement associations, senior citizens groups, day
care and community centres around the country, to ensure that
more older people are more active, more often.
The Go for Life team at Age and Opportunity administers the Go for Life programme, working in partnership with the Health Service Executive, each area of which has a Go for Life coordinator, and in all Local Sports Partnerships.
There are many different elements to the Go for Life programme. Please visit www.olderinireland.ie to find out which Go for Life programme suits you or your community.
Looking for funding to support a physical activity programme or to buy some sports equipment for your older person’s organisation?
One of the main elements of the Go for Life Programme is the National Grant Scheme for Sport and Physical Activity for Older People. The scheme was launched by John Treacy, Chief Executive of the Irish Sports Council, in November 2001.
Go for Life announced (September 2008) that EUR 350,000 had been allocated under the 8th National Grant Scheme. Applications were invited from any local group seeking to provide increased opportunities for older people to participate in sport and physical activity may apply for a grant. Grants range from EUR 500 – EUR 3,000 and are typically used by groups to purchase equipment or so that members may explore a new sporting activity.
Recipients of the 8th Go for Life National Grant Scheme were announced in December 2008, with EUR 350,000 allocated to local groups all over the country, who are seeking to provide increased opportunities for older people to participate in sport and physical activity. Grants range from EUR 500 – EUR 3,000 and are typically used by groups to purchase equipment or so that members may explore a new sporting activity. Over 700 groups received funding under this scheme this year – take a look at the groups from Monaghan who received funding in 2008 by clicking
To have a look at the application form for 2007 as an example of the information required and the funding guidelines, you can click here.
Please note that the Go for Life National Grant Scheme is closed at present and will re-open in September 2009 (pending funding)
For additional documents / publications, see links below
Press release on 8th National Grant Scheme
Research on Physical Activity for Older People