Sefton's Older People's Olympics

Lakesiders win Gold in Sefton’s Older people’s Olympics!!

Active Sefton get the golden oldies active.  In celebration of National Older people’s Day Active Sefton showed that age is not just a number by creating Sefton’s first ever older people’s Olympics.

The event, held at Dunes Splash World and funded by NHS Sefton, was filled with fun packed activities ranging from badminton, wellington boot throwing, Jenga, Connect 4 and Skittles to name a few. 

The aim of the event was not only to get Sefton residents active but to mark a new opportunity to try alternative activities in a fun and interactive way whilst meeting new friends.

With several teams entering the event, participants ranged in age from fifty to eighty years plus, all of whom faced numerous challenges ranging from both physical and mental tasks.

After intense competition, the “Lakesiders” managed to win the closely fought for title by one point, illustrating the keen levels of competition as all top three teams were divided by only one point.

Commenting on the days activities, Lindsay Russell, Development Manager for the Active Lifestyles team recognised the importance of hosting alternative sporting activities to encourage participation,

“The Older People’s Olympics was designed to provide a range of activities for a diverse range of abilities and ages so as to encourage everyone to participate in the activities on offer without necessarily being experienced in any given sport. Sometimes individuals may not take part in activities as they feel they need to have experience or previous knowledge so by putting on familiar activities which are not as strenuous as some sports we have endeavoured to open up the market to all participants. This is the first time we have done this type of event and the response from our participants has been fantastic with a high demand for it to be repeated in the future. We will be scheduling similar smaller events on a more regular basis in the run up to the next Sefton Older People’s Olympics 2012.”

The Active Lifestyles Team provide a range of programmes which are open to all members of the public seeking advice regarding weight management and healthy lifestyle guidance. For further information on any activities provided by the team, log on to www.active-sefton.co.uk or contact the team direct on 0151 934 2352.