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Healthy Offaly Actions

Healthy Ireland funding will allow an ambitious programme of work for 2024 to be delivered. All actions for 2024 have now commenced with a progress update due to be provided by partners at the Healthy Offaly Subcommittee  September Quarterly meeting. The projects being delivered this year are:

  1. ‘Minding Me’ is a twelve-week exercise and health education programme for over 65’s hosted and delivered by Tullamore Library and their partners Edufit.
  • The ‘Cycling without Age’ project in Lough Boora Discovery Park will provide an online booking system for rickshaw bicycle and to purchase second bicycle and storage shed for use by volunteers to bring those older or infirmed into areas of the park that would previously have been inaccessible to them.   
  • ‘Active Aging for Kilcormac’ is an initiative provided by Kilcormac Development Association and Crinkle Sports & Recreation Centre to provide a series of weekly Boccia, Pickleball, Activator Poles classes for older adults to increase physical activity levels and enhance wellbeing. Light refreshments are provided after each session to encourage participation.
  • ‘Creative Dance and Movement Edenderry’ seeks to increase physical activity levels among its participants by providing free dance and movement workshops and classes for children, young people and adults in the local community.
  • ‘Exercise your way to wellness’ is a joint initiative between Edenderry GAA and Exwell Medical to provide group exercise classes to increase physical activity and lower obesity levels among chronic illness sufferers in the Edenderry area.
  • The ‘Drop & Move’ project aims to increase the percentage of adults meeting their recommended levels of physical activity (150 minutes per week). OSP have selected 10 locations in the County where adults are already congregating in the community e.g. GAA youth training, village halls etc and providing a physical activity programme for them. Drop & Move was piloted last year and returns for a second year.
  • The ‘St. Michael’s Athletic Football Team’ action was set up in 2023 to improve the physical and mental health status of male Travellers in Co. Offaly. The project returns for a second year.  Traveller men’s interest in football is the medium through which this will be achieved.
  • The ‘Children’s Afterschool Physical Activity Programme’seeks to increase the percentage of children meeting the recommended physical activity guidelines (60 minutes per day). This is also a 2023 action which has returned for 2024. It will be run as a 12-week programme, consisting of 1 hour session x 3 days per week for 7 to 10 and 11 to 13-year-olds respectively.
  • The ‘Invest in Yourself’ programme will offer an opportunity for people with clinical lifelong conditions from the area referred by the GP, to avail of a supervised exercise class, twice a week for 6 months for 30 people.  Clara C&FRC have engaged the services and expertise, of EXwell Medical, who have a track record of providing appropriate community-based rehabilitation programs.  ‘Invest in yourself’ was piloted last year and returns due to increased demand.
  1. Healthy Offaly have partnered with Offaly Athletics to provide financial support for the Healthy Offaly 5K Road Race Series 2024. This support will encourage ‘couch to 5k’ and ‘fit for life’ runners to take up and maintain running to increase physical activity levels. The series has a huge reach with over 300 participants at each of the eight races.
  1. ‘Activator Poles for Portarlington’ is a joint initiative between Healthy Offaly and Healthy Laois to provide 24 pairs of walking poles and kit bags to Portarlington Library to add to the lending offering. This will facilitate older adults in particular to ‘get out and active’ by borrowing the poles from their local library.