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Intergenerational Choir of Ages Ceol le Cheile

Summary

Donegal Age Friendly Programme has developed a number of intergenerational initiatives over the past two years where young people and older people have been brought together to collaborate on a common interest led by a facilitator with expertise in the area of said common interest. The aim is to promote social inclusion and develop stronger relationships between older people, children and young people.

Music came up as something all ages could relate to and has been proven to improve the quality of life for older people in numerous ways. This led to the establishment of Ceol Le Chéile Donegal’s Choir of Ages. This choir has had a membership of up to 150 people in the past 2 years, Children ages from 6 to 14 and Older Adults. It has helped all members to overcome symptoms of depression, anxiety, self-confidence and loneliness. It has built new relationships and has alleviated any fears the age groups had for regarding each other.

Veronica McCarron came on board as music director to conduct them, Veronica’s professional conducting included voice training, breathing techniques, elocution lessons, choreography and building the confidence to sing in front of others which was a huge challenge for everyone. The choir members met for choir rehearsals every week, this included social activities and tea breaks where the group got time to bond. They have performed in a lot of venues including theatres, churches, nursing homes and to a national audience.

A qualitative research evaluation was carried out on the choir in 2019 highlighting the benefits of it and the impact it has had on the lives of participants. Some said it’s their weekly medicine. The choir continues to grow & has secured funding for a further 2 years. It stands at the moment with a membership of 100 people (70 older and 30 younger)

Ceol le Cheile Report Ceol le Cheile Summary Report

Key facts

Main target group: Both younger and older people (i.e. intergenerational)

Other target group(s): Multigenerational - Parents of kids helped and family members of Older People helped

Sector(s): Education, Health, Transportation

Desired outcome for older people:
Build and maintain relationships

Other issues the Age-friendly practice aims to address:
  • Ageism
  • Accessibility
  • Dementia
  • Healthy behaviours (e.g. physical activity)
  • Intergenerational activities
  • Inclusion
  • Participation

Contact details

Name: Mairead Lynch

Email address: mylnch@donegalcoco.ie

Age-friendly practice in detail (click to expand):

Engaging the wider community

Project lead: Local authorities

Others involved in the project:
  • Local authorities
  • Older People’s Association
  • Social or health care provider
  • Volunteers
  • Private sector

How collaboration worked: A multiagency approach was used from the Age Friendly Alliance, Local Link provided Transport, Letterkenny Institute of Technology provided a venue and HSE and Council provided funding

Older people’s involvement: Older people helped to implement the age-friendly practice

Details on older people’s involvement: A sub committee was established where older people took ownership of organising the weekly teas, arranging their clothing for performances and aiding people that weren’t as mobile. They helped with the children, we also created a comments box to get their feedback every week.

Moving forward

Has the impact of this age-friendly practice been analysed: Yes

Was the impact positive or negative:
Positive

Please share with us what you found in detail:
The project had huge benefits for younger and older people, improving their overall health and wellbeing.

Evaluation report: Ceol-le-Cheile-Summary-Report.docx

Feedback:
Very positive feedback, something very special about this choir so we got a piece of research done to capture what was so special about it. Had a huge impact on peoples lives

Expansion plans:
Yes, we have applied for further funding, we aim to replicate it different communities. We have recruited new members

Looking back

Reflections:
Went public looking for members and received huge interest which resulted in a waiting list of people wanting to join but the restriction on number of participants for health and safety reasons kept membership at approximately 100. In order to avoid this issue in the future we would go through social prescribers and GP referrals only. We created the choir for people that don’t participate in any other projects. Also, we created a comments box to get their feedback every week, this helps to get their opinions on different things.

Challenges:
Keeping the project interesting and fun for them to want to continue coming back every week. Funding is always an issue especially securing a consistent, safe and comfortable venue. Communication was a challenge, weekly emails and texts go out but can be time-consuming when individual follow up is needed.