Councillor John Fleming, Cathaoirleach of Wexford County Council welcomed over 250 people from across Ireland to the wonderful Clayton Whites Hotel for this year’s National Age Friendly Recognition and Achievement Awards ceremony on Thursday, 30th November at 7.00 pm.
The Age Friendly Recognition and Achievement Awards showcase age friendly initiatives from around the country that are contributing to making Ireland a great place in which to grow old. The event was presented by Age Friendly Ireland, a shared service function of Local Government in Meath County Council and was hosted and sponsored by Wexford County Council. Master of Ceremonies for the evening was the wonderful Marty Morrissey, Irish sports commentator and television presenter with RTÉ.
This is the seventh annual awards ceremony for Age Friendly Ireland since 2014. Wexford County Council expressed an interest to host the awards with Age Friendly Ireland in 2022. Wexford has been an Age Friendly County since 2013 and have made significant progress in embedding an age friendly approach to all of their work, as such we were delighted to have the Awards Ceremony hosted in the beautiful County Wexford.
The National Age Friendly Recognition and Achievement Awards ceremony is an annual acknowledgement of the significant work that takes place across the country, recognising in particular those whose efforts contribute to older people living better lives as they age. Many of the projects come from the community & voluntary sector, front line workers and practitioners who have worked tirelessly to support older people. It is a beautiful event celebrating all that is good in Ireland for older people.
The national Age Friendly Programme has been running for nearly 15 years and has been implemented by all 31 Local Authorities in Ireland. The programme is built on the recognition of the valuable role that older people can and should play in shaping their communities for the better.
This year eight categories of awards, aligning to the themes of the World Health Organisation’s global framework for Age Friendly Cities and Communities, were presented to age friendly projects in recognition for their innovative and creative approach to making Ireland a great place in which to grow old.
The winners in each category were:
- Age Friendly Transport Award – Sponsored by Department of Transport
Ireland’s First Age Friendly Train Station, MacDonagh Station in Kilkenny.
2. Age Friendly Active & Healthy Ageing Award – Sponsored by HSE
Healthy islands, County Galway off shore islands
3. Age Friendly Business Innovation Award – Sponsored by Chambers Ireland
Specsavers, Age Friendly Business, Newbridge
4. Age Friendly Safety & Security Award – Sponsored by An Garda Siochana
An Garda Síochána, Older Persons’ Wellbeing Event, Cavan and Monaghan
5. Age Friendly Communication Award – Sponsored by An Post
Information Screens, Dublin City Council Central Area
6. Age Friendly Environment Award – Sponsored by Centre of Excellence in universal Design at NDA
Access for All, Age Friendly Recycling Initiative, Carlow
7. Age Friendly Community Innovation Award – Sponsored by Department of Rural and Community Development
Sweeter the Tune, Leitrim
8. Age Friendly Housing Award – Sponsored by Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Cornamona Court, Ballyfermot, Dublin
9. Judges Special Recognition Award – Sponsored by IPB Insurance
Beech Hill College, Monaghan – Beech Hill College Intergenerational Project- TY Students broadcasting news for local nursing homes.
And Colaiste Na Sceilge – Cahersiveen – Intergenerational Connection: Youth Action Addressing – IT Poverty among older people in South Kerry.
For the full brochure, please see here.
For the Awards Photos, please see here. The password for accessing the gallery is agiawards23.