Clubs encouraged to apply for GAA Healthy
Club Project
Club across Ireland are
being encouraged to apply for the exciting GAA Healthy Club Project (HCP).
The Community & Health
team in Croke Park is looking to recruit at least one club from each county to
join the 16 clubs that participated in Phase 1 (which
ran from 2013 to 2015). Expressions of interest forms and full
application details are available at www.gaa.ie/community/healthy-club-project/
. The deadline is Friday, January 29, 2016.
The Healthy
Club Project was
started in 2013 to better support GAA clubs in responding to
and supporting the health and wellbeing of their members and the wider
community they serve. It involves a partnership with the HSE and is supported
by Healthy Ireland, Sport Ireland, and the Public Health Agency in Northern
Ireland. Irish Life has come onboard for three years with a CSR investment of
€1m to help Phase 2 it achieve its full potential.
GAA clubs
already contribute greatly to the health and wellbeing of their members by
providing opportunities to develop their physical, social, emotional, and
psychological health. However, the HCP aims to assist
clubs in this important work, help them identify areas where they would like to
improve, and empower them to ensure that everyone who engages with their club
benefits from the experience in a health-enhancing way.
Phase 2 will run for 18
months, during which time selected clubs will enjoy exclusive access to Healthy
Club resources and supports. They will also help to ensure the project is
properly evaluated and that each of the resources are fit for purpose.
Phase 1 clubs reported
increased membership, better member engagement with club activities,
improvements in health promoting activities, strengthened links with the local
community, and opening up new funding avenues. They
also implemented a range of activities involving exciting partnerships
and policies that placed wellbeing at the heart of the clubs’ ethos. Areas of
work included physical activity, emotional wellbeing, health screening,
anti-bullying, diet and nutrition, inclusion, drug and alcohol awareness, life
skill and personal development, anti-smoking, facilities development, and
engagement with older community members.
An independent
report carried out by a team from Waterford IT outlined key outcomes and
recommendations for clubs moving into phase 2. The full report can be
found here: http://gaa.ie/community/healthy-club-project/phase-1-evaluation-report/
Many
of the Phase 1 Healthy Clubs gained local and national recognition for their
efforts. Castleblayney Faughs picked up the Irish Sports Club of the Year award
at the Sports
Industry
Awards earlier in November, having already been announced Ulster GAA Club of
the Year 2014. Its ‘Operation TransFAUGHmation’ is empowering hundreds from
their local area to take ownership of their health in a fun, collective way.
(This brilliant video captures how - https://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/0611151730-castleblayney-faughs-claim-club-of-the-year-award/).
The
St. Finbarr’s and Midleton clubs were awarded joint first place in the national
Health Management Institute awards 2014 by the Minister for Health for their
ground-breaking ‘Cork Beats Stress’ six-week programme. Rolled out in
partnership with the HSE’s psychological services it benefitted hundreds of
people in their catchment areas. St. Colmcille’s GAA club was awarded REHAB
Community group of the year in Meath and was awarded seed funding from the
GENIO Foundation to support its unique ‘How are you Today?’ community mental
health outreach programme. St. John’s Volunteer’s, Wexford, became the
country’s first completely smoke-free GAA club.
Phase 2 will
commence this February and will run until June 2017 (18 month cycle). Interested
clubs can register their interest at http://gaa.ie/community/healthy-club-project/get-involved/
All
applications welcomed until close of business on Friday the 29th of
January.
For more
information on the project please go to our FAQ section on the GAA website
http://gaa.ie/community/healthy-club-project/get-involved/faqs/
For
more information please contact: Aoife O’Brien, National Healthy Club Coordinator
on aoife.obrien@gaa.ie or call