Age Friendly
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Keeping Up The Momentum Of An <strong>Age</strong><br />
<strong>Friendly</strong> County Programme: Eithne Mallin,<br />
<strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong> Coordinator In Fingal Speaks<br />
Frankly About Her Experience.<br />
Eithne Mallin firmly believes the best way to keep<br />
up momentum is dynamic and engaging events<br />
for older people in the county. “The Senior Citizens<br />
Forum in Fingal host monthly meetings and they<br />
also get involved in things like the walkability<br />
survey in Beaumont Hospital and Dublin Airport,”<br />
says Mallin. The Men’s Shed group in Baldoyle is<br />
also very active and has made contact with all the<br />
Men’s Shed groups in County Louth.<br />
“Mainstreaming pilot<br />
projects is one of Mallin’s<br />
key concerns...”<br />
Fingal County Council Community Division<br />
provides the Senior Citizens Forum with the<br />
support of a Community Development Officer<br />
and an annual budget to support their monthly<br />
meetings, their annual general meeting and<br />
an information seminar. The Forum invites<br />
speakers to their meetings. For example, Dr<br />
Kate Irving, a lecturer in Mental Health Nursing<br />
at Dublin City University was the principal<br />
speaker at the Fingal Senior Citizens Forum<br />
AGM and conference entitled “Feed The Brain<br />
and Feed The Body” in May, 2014. A dietician<br />
from Keelings fruit and vegetable producers in<br />
St Margaret’s also spoke at the event.<br />
The Fingal <strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong> programme also<br />
organised a review of their strategy two years into<br />
the programme. “We looked at our achievements<br />
to date and decided to focus on a couple of<br />
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