In order to achieve a more Age Friendly District, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council recently launched its’ first Age Friendly Strategy which has 56 actions aligned to the WHO themes. Fermanagh and Omagh District Council (FODC) is coordinating the Plan however it has many cross sectoral delivery partners.
Within FODC there are several paid staff that include the delivery of services for older people in their remit: An Access and Inclusion Officer, the Projects and Programmes Development Coordinator, the Place-EE Project Coordinator (ICT intergenerational project for older people), the Environmental Health home safety assessment officers and leisure programmes for older people run by sports coaches.

Since 2015 FODC, has received an annual contribution from the Northern Ireland Public Health Agency (PHA) to assist the District in becoming more Age Friendly. We have delivered numerous activities and an annual conference. We also resource the South West Age Partnership (SWAP) to provide secretariat for an Older Person’s Interagency quarterly meeting. This enables a multi-disciplinary approach to the delivery of services to older people in the district.

FODC has successfully piloted a streamlined older people’s grant aid process for groups, facilitated by SWAP. Over 80 older people’s groups accessed funding to run activities, based on a one page application form.

Many Council facilities have concession rates for older people for entry into Theatres, the Museum and Leisure Centres.

FODC has a number of policies and strategies that supports age friendly approaches. These include: FODC Equality Scheme and Action Plan, Disability Action Plan and the Community Engagement and Involvement Strategy. These align to the Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (“the Act”) requires public authorities to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity and regard to the desirability of promoting good relations across a range of categories, including Age.

The draft Active Together Strategy for Fermanagh and Omagh District references Older people as a specific target group. Older people can avail of free bus travel passes and free television licences as part of wider schemes.