A NOVEL health project will tackle Dementia among older men by bringing them back to the Gaelic football pitch to compete for a tournament title.
Over 45s across Britain are invited to field a team for a national tournament which will take place at St Finbarrs social and GAA club in Coventry this September.
The nine-a-side teams will vie for the ‘Cuimhne Cup’ during the one-day tournament, which will also provide health awareness for the Irish community at large.
Developed by the Irish in Britain organisation, in conjunction with St Finbarrs, the Cuimhne Inspires Sports Project also hopes to raise awareness of vascular dementia among older Irish men and how sports activities can help prevent it.
Charlotte Curran, Cuimhne Coordinator at Irish in Britain, told The Irish Post: “We are running this as a pilot project with St. Finbarrs to help get information about looking after your health to the Irish community.
“It’s going to be a great day out for all the family but we are really keen to get as many men aged 45 or over to take part. If they can’t make up a full team they can still contact us and we can find them a place or help them fill their numbers.”
She added: “The important thing is anyone can take part as long as they can get to Coventry for the tournament and while the footballers are busy on the pitch there’ll be plenty other activities on offer to entertain their fans and supporters and anyone else who wants to join us.”
A number of health awareness stalls will be set up along the sidelines on the day, while a busy entertainment schedule, including a céilí dancing session led by Ciara Sexton, is being planned.
Refreshments will also be available throughout the tournament at the club – which boasts three bars across its lounge, sports bar and function room.
“Over the course of the event we want to highlight the high diagnosis of vascular Dementia among Irish men and show them that we can actually prevent the onset of it through sports activities,” Ms Curran added.
“We want to shine a positive focus on that during the tournament and will have a number of health awareness stalls there on the day, along entertainment for fans and supporters.”
The free event, which takes place on Saturday, September 6, is being supported by a £5,000 grant from Voluntary Action Coventry.
Local MPs and Councillors have also accepted invitations to attend and two football teams have already signed up to take part.
Danny Coleman, the Chairman of St Finbarrs GAA club, based at the recently-refurbished centre in Holbrook, North West Coventry, also hopes it will help the 61-year-old social club re-engage with its elderly Irish members.
“Getting involved in the Irish in Britain sports project was an easy fit for us,” he said.
“We have elderly members who have health issues, some who have had strokes and some with dementia, so we are well aware of the health needs of the community and wanted to support a project which attempts to address that.”
He added: “The tournament will address two things mainly – the benefits that sports brings to people with various health conditions but also the benefit of getting them out of the house, so dealing with social exclusion.
“Even getting these men and their families here for that weekend may allow them to rekindle old friendships” he explained, “as sport is a great connector among men of any age.”
The Chairman, who oversees two under-age and one senior GAA team at St Finbarrs, hopes to see the Cuimhne Cup national tournament become an annual play off.
For the social club it also provides a good opportunity to reengage with members they haven’t seen since reopening St Finbarrs following an extensive £2million refurbishment last year.
“We closed for about 12 years before reopening last year, on St Finbarrs 60th anniversary,” Mr Coleman explained.
“So while we have about 2,000 members on our books, as the club was dormant for such a long time a lot of them haven’t followed us up to our new site.”
He added: “Many of these are Irish people who came to Coventry years ago and are now in their 70s and 80s, so part of our involvement in this project is to reconnect with them.”
He explained: “We will use the September event as a launch for that and on that day we will have a number of activities and teams they might want to get involved with, from dominoes to darts and pool.
“We want them to see St Finbarrs is still a place where they can come together and maybe reconnect with people they used to know years ago.
“It’s also so important to simply get some of them out of the house, to that’s part of our longer term plan here.”
For further information or to register your interest in the Cuimhne Inspires Sports Project contact Charlotte Curran on 02076974081 or email [email protected]
