Galway City Active Aged Initiative. This initiative encouraged older people to be more active.

Description

This Initiative encouraged older people to be more active by increasing the opportunities for them to be active. Galway Sports Partnership, Active Cities Galway and Healthy Galway with the support of Cllr Clodagh Higgins provided Free Gym Membership in parntership with Leisurland Galway and increased the offerings for older adults. Galway Sports Parnterhsip ran a number of events and programmes culminating in Go for Life Galway Games and physical activity taster event.

This event was also used to form a Galway Go for Life Team to attend the National Go for Life Games in DCU in June.

Aim of Initiative

This inititiative was designed to encourage and assist our older population to lead more active lives in a fun and social way. It increased the opportunities for people to participate and also broke down the barriers that can be associated with leisure providers such as cost.

Who is it aimed at

All Older Adults – from various backgrounds and areas around Galway city

3 Steps critical to success

1. Planning the initiative with the key stakeholders – Galway City Council, Galway Sports Partnership, Healthy Galway City, Leisureland, Age Friendly Coordinator. By involving all the key stakeholders we ensured to design the intiative with our target group to the fore of the planning.
2. Build and improve on existing offerings for older adults in Leisureland and in the community.
3. Communication – setting out various methods of communications to ensure we reached the target audience – utilising a variety of methods – print media, posters, leaflets, partners, social media to ensure we covered all basis.

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. Communication – ensuring our message and communications are reaching the older adult population
2. Access to facilities – leisure centres are generally extremely busy and gaining access to elements such as pool slots can be difficult.
3. Catering for demand.

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. Increased participation in physical activity amongst older adults
2. Improved access to local leisure centre
3. Improved knowledge of the needs and wants of older adults in the area of physical activity