Active Age for All (AAfA) organising activities to promote healthy ageing for our 250+ members.

Description

AAfA provides the opportunity for people over 55 from the Donabate Portrane peninsula to engage in social, cultural, educational and recreational activities and events in an open and friendly atmosphere. Our aim is to be as inclusive as possible and to encourage both the active and sedentary to get involved by offering a diverse activity programme.
Introduction: Following on from a 2014 survey a need for a full range of activities to cater for people over 55 was needed. A Committee was formed and we were totally enthusiastic and committed to what might be possible. We did not know just how far it would take us!
We are a dynamic, diverse group with 250+ members. We have moved very quickly from the initial meeting until now. With such a positive display of interest, we had to develop our systems quickly. All processes outlined below happened within the first two years – with some fine-tuning always ongoing. Our programme is available on the website www.activeageforall.com.
Where we meet: Most of our activities are held in the Donabate Portrane Community Centre (DPCC) and Donabate Library which are Age Friendly Facilities. The management and staff of both are welcoming and supportive – without them it would be impossible for AAfA to take place. We acknowledge the assistance they give us for the logistics of making AAfA happen. It is a symbiotic relationship – DPCC had some available studio times that coincided with the times our membership most wanted to be active. The Library has spaces for the Photography, First Aid, languages and talks. DPCC is accessible by bus and there are good car parking facilities.
Membership: There has been steady growth in our membership with 114 members in May 2016, and 167 in May 2017. Currently we have over 250+ members, with an age range of 55 to 90+. The membership card can be used for discounts, negotiated by us with some local businesses. They offer 10% reductions when the card is presented.
Communication: There is always plenty of face to face and phone contact. Notifications of any new information is written and sent by emails , text, website, or visually. DPCC facilitates a specific noticeboard for us to use.
Database: It became clear that the management of members contact details and ICE information as well as that of class lists could not be maintained on spreadsheets so one of our members shared her skill and built an Access database to make the entire process more efficient. We can see in an instant for example that we have a 26% male and 74% female breakdown.
Subscription: At this time the annual subscription for membership is 10 euro. We offer classes at very reasonable rates to members. We organise and pay all our own tutors for physical classes. Other classes and activities are run by members sharing skills and talents. The aim of the subscription is to cover insurance and other administrative costs.
Registration Days: These happen in the DPCC over a three-day period. They are manned by committee members and many other willing members. Registrations are held two weeks before classes are due to start to enable time for the class lists to be printed off and to make sure that there are sufficient numbers to maintain the class for the session.
Programme: The timetable/programme is available on our website.
Not for Profit: Most classes just cover costs, but some make a small profit used to cross subsidise classes with a strong social dimension e.g. Sit & Get Fit and Chair Yoga..
Tutors and class logistics: Again we had the talents of some of our members who had experience in adult education and teaching to draw on. Tutors have been drawn from those already working in the community but who may not have offered classes to this age profile before.
PARQ forms: (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire) We have developed a form that is now common to all physical activity classes.
Contracts: Are produced and signed by committee members and tutors prior to commencement of classes.
Outreach to the community: We are now in a position to set aside a fund to subsidise classes for some members and also to offer a reduced price to members who have been directed specifically to join the class by local medical professionals.
Other sources of income: Our finances are tightly run and we aim to finish the year with a small surplus as a reserve to take us into the next financial year and equipment replacement. We have had some donations from local organizations and Fingal County Council have been really helpful in funding towards our development.
Achievement: We strongly believe that we have now developed and are running an AAfA group with a format that could be rolled out for any community.

Aim of Initiative

Positive interaction for over 55s to counteract potential isolation and staying fit and healthy into older age is our aim. With a fast growing area, there was a gap for those who were newly retiring or working part-time towards retirement and who just did not feel they were ready to join the Senior Citizens.

Who is it aimed at

All over 55s living on the Donabate Portrane peninsula.

3 Steps critical to success

1. Finding a group of volunteers with specific skills – administration, finance, ideas, energy and enthusiasm and forming a Committee that somehow managed to work together effectively. They also had really good communication skills to communicate what we hoped to achieve.
2. Sourcing committed and enthusiastic tutors who ‘get’ what our aims are. Choosing initially a variety of classes to make it attractive to both sedentary and active members and to cover a wide range of age and possible interests.
3. Staying aware of grants available to assist the funding for new initiatives such as our Stronger for Longer, Sit & Get Fit, Singing and Music, Chair Yoga and Pickleball classes. Having the confidence to know that we are offering classes that our members want (survey) at a price they are happy to pay. Sometimes we have had to make the hard decision to raise the price per class to cover the cost of increased rent and tutor payments.

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. Writing a Constitution BUT with growth we have also had to write documents for managing roles and relationships – writing policies such as Dignity & Respect, writing a Finance policy and creating an ongoing Committee Manual. This as well as designing and producing forms and a website! But this is done and only now needs regular reviewing. They are a great set of templates.
2. Managing expectations of what we really can offer – and managing the ‘recruitment’ of those with the talent to keep it all going for the future.

   The first Committee have been a hard act to follow.

3. Managing success – and trying to make sure that we keep it local.

   We have regular requests from outside the peninsula from people who want to partake in our classes but the real success for having local membership is the ‘chats’ in the supermarket or ‘come and join me for a coffee’. The relationships made are precious.

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. Continually growing membership of 55+ year olds who are fitter, involved both physically and mentally. AAfA has become an organization with a reputation now where people really get to know a wider circle of friends, who encourage fun, and who also meet up outside our activities as well. We are satisfying the need within the community for this age group. We also continually look for ways of being even more inclusive.
2. Members have become and are now actively supportive of other initiatives in the community such as the financing for the training needed for the setting up a Men’s Shed, supplying man-power for the Memory Café in the Community Centre, our choir in supporting the Bealtaine Festival, recruitment for the local Meals on Wheels service and active fundraising for charities.
3. We have become a community resource; providing information and short courses in computers (ACORN tablets), smart phone usage for seniors, cooking, crafts, recycling info, information mornings with talk and coffee; working with the local authority during COVID to contact members living alone to check on their welfare and offer support. As part of our social remit to the community we have reached out to local health professionals for referrals to reduced price classes to people with medical, exercise and isolation needs.