caring Communication

Feature
Fitness
through football
ith Euro 2016 just months
away, the talk is turning to
W group stages, teams, tactics
and those all important goals.
wWhile, for some, football
is purely a spectator sport, for young men
in Limerick, football is proving to be a real
game changer, offering an opportunity to get
involved, get fit and train with a top Premier
League team.
Fitness Through Football is an innovative
men’s health programme developed
between the Football Association of Ireland,
Health Service Executive and led through
Limerick City Drug Education and Prevention
Strategy (DEPS). Delivered over eight weeks,
the programme includes a week long skills
camp delivered by Sunderland AFC. This programme
is unique to Limerick City but work
is under way to enable the programme to be
rolled out across the country.
The programme has been run successfully
in Limerick for the last six years and
is aimed at 18-25 year old males who are
unemployed, not engaged with other services
and living in areas of social deprivation.
Funded by Limerick City and County Council
Regeneration, the HSE Mid-West Resource
Office for Suicide Prevention and the Mid-
West Regional Drug Forum, the programme
uses football as a medium to work with men
to improve their overall wellbeing.
Although the focus is on the football with
participants getting involved in gym work,
football skills and fitness training facilitated
by the FAI, they also learn how to cook low
cost nutritious meals through the HSE’s
Cook-It programme. In addition, participants
also attend health workshops where they
learn about various factors that can affect
their health.
sense of fun
The HSE Mid-West Resource Officer for
Suicide Prevention, Mary Kennedy, is fully
behind the programme as it addresses four
of the seven strategic goals set out in Connecting
For Life, Ireland’s national strategy
to reduce suicide 2015-2020.
She commented, “The young men on the
programme learn about mental health and
wellbeing; they explore the risks and protective
measures as well as discuss the more
difficult issues, such as substance misuse.
They are encouraged to engage with services,
if needed, but are also supported to
explore further education and training. This
is all done in a supportive and comfortable
environment but with a great sense of fun
resulting in a high level of participation by the
young men involved.”
Daniel Butler, from Limerick City DEPS,
was full of praise of the programme.
“Fitness Through Football makes an
extraordinary impact on the lives of the
young men involved. The partnership with
Sunderland AFC was started about six years
ago building on the links established by
the Shane Geoghegan Trust with Sunderland
AFC and has grown from strength to
strength.
This programme gives guys the chance to
get fit, healthy and focused so that they can
achieve the potential they all have. Many
of these guys will get jobs, volunteer or go
back to further education as has been seen in
previous years, and they still never cease to
amaze and inspire me.”
In an evaluation of the programme, undertaken
by independent researcher, Mary
O’Sullivan, which examined key success
measurements, the programme was rated
very positively and was considered to be
highly effective in achieving its goals.
Evidence showed that the majority
of participants:
• improved their levels of fitness and health
displayed enhanced skills in terms of football
and cooking
•developed new social linkages with peers
and contacts with other relevant agencies
•demonstrated increased self-esteem and
42 | health matters | spring 2016