Low participation in free Sports Active Wexford programmes which ‘a lot of people would benefit from’

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Despite offering a range of free courses for older adults across the county Sports Active Wexford continues to see “low participation” rates in its programmes.

Among the activities on offer with Sports Active are a health education programme for middle-aged and older adults living with clinical conditions, water-based strength and mobility classes, and an adapted bike programme for those who wish to enjoy the South East Greenway.

Questioning whether Wexford County Council (WCC) was advertising these programmes effectively, Councillor Lisa McDonald said many people in the county could hugely benefit from enrolling in the courses.

“These are brilliant programmes, a lot of people in our district would benefit from them, and a lot of people need them,” she said at the monthly meeting of the Rosslare Municipal District (RMD). “But the message is not getting across that these activities are available.

“I know we share them on social media, but I’m not sure people are engaging with social media any more because the amount of stuff coming at people on there is overwhelming.”

Sharing the councillor’s frustration, Philip Knight of WCC’s community department said every effort was made to advertise the courses.

“Everything is pushed through the press, through social media, we try to give all of these initiatives as much air time as we can,” he said. “But the response rate is very low. It’s something we need to look at.”