Go for Life
Go for Life is the national programme for sport and physical activity for older people in Ireland and our goal is to get “more older people, more active, more often”
Go for Life Programme
The Go for Life programme is run by over 1000 volunteers called Physical Activity Leaders (PAL). A PAL is a leader who is already part of a group or club and who regularly leads activities with their group. PALs lead activities like short exercise routines, Go for Life games, simple dances and sports like pitch and toss. Groups can be any community or social group that meets regularly so Mens’ Sheds are ideally placed to benefit from having a PAL to help them get more active together. To date lots of members of the Mens’ Sheds have attended the PALs training and take particular interest in the Go for Life Games.
Go for Life Games
The National Go for Life Games is one of the biggest social sports events for older people in Ireland and each year 300 players from all over Ireland take part, proudly representing their counties and competing in the games of Scidils, Flisk and Málaí. These are games developed from existing sports and adapted to be more inclusive and open to people of all ages and abilities.
“We do the Go for Life programme in Limerick every week and we have seven hubs set up now. It’s just a fantastic programme, it’s a real social activity and they don’t even realise they are exercising, they are having fun and it’s something that’s getting bigger and bigger every year in Limerick. We really enjoy it and we really enjoy coming to Dublin for the Games every year.” Tracey Mahedy, Limerick LSP
Nationally the games are being played each week in local clubs and communities who organise sports days, inviting other groups to attend and run mini leagues and blitzes.
Further Information
If you would like more information on the Go for Life games and help with getting your shed involved contact gfl@ageandopportuniy.ie or phone 01 8057733. You can also visit the Age and Opportunity website for more information
Go for Life is an Age & Opportunity programme, funded by Sport Ireland. Go for Life PALs’ workshops are run in partnership with Local Sports Partnerships and the Health Service Executive.