Cuimhne sports and coach training opportunities
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Zibiah Loakthar, our Cuimhne Coordinator writes:
hand squeezing ball
Setting up community sport, exercise and volunteering activities can be a great way for groups to help reduce the risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, loneliness and social isolation, in turn reducing risk factors for dementia! Activities can be developed and adapted in creative ways to address the needs of people of any age or physical abilities.
Irish in Britain member groups have found all sorts of great ways of developing fun physical exercise activities to meet the needs of older people including dancing, walking football and chair–based exercises and aerobics.
Sometimes it can be the challenge of finding an appropriately trained, skilled and culturally sensitive coach that pauses groups in their enthusiasm to get something going. Groups also understand the importance of having people appropriately trained in first aid to hand.
Community groups are also rightly concerned to ensure people leading activities are appropriately trained. The last thing anyone wishes to do is to exacerbate any existing underlying health conditions people engaging in activities may have!
The good news is that Sport England has just announced that through the Lottery it is making up to £1 million available to diversify coaches and volunteers in the sport and physical activity sector. The Workforce Diversity Great Ideas Fund will be open for a month (deadline 3 July).
They are keen to hear from anyone wanting to engage women and/or minority ethnic communities in volunteering or coaching opportunities saying, “Perhaps your organisation has never had any connection with sport before, but has something different to offer within a sport or physical activity setting. “Whatever your ideas, we’re keen to find out what we can discover together”.
Our Cuimhne team at Irish in Britain encourages people to think about responding to this call. More trained exercise and sport coaches could greatly help in developing more culturally sensitive exercise and sporting activities, in turn promoting good health and wellbeing.
Appropriately trained coaches could help in developing hurling or Irish dance activities in your area. Funding could be used to help with offering exercise or walking football activities in a culturally sensitive way and setting for older people in the community. Find out more about this funding opportunity here.