Health and Wellbeing

Our 50 Miles Challenge might be on pause for the moment but you can still get the steps in this January !

The Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs Every Step Counts Challenge 2025 invites club and community members nationwide to get active, connect with their community and support their GAA club for 5 weeks, starting 8th January 2025.

· Irish Life’s Health of the Nation Report 2024 has found that as a population we’re becoming less active and feeling more isolated..

· The Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs Every Step Counts Challenge 2024, which was facilitated on the MyLife app, recorded an increase of one million steps vs 2023 challenge

· 970 GAA clubs registered for the challenge in 2024, an increase of 181 clubs from 2023, with 125 from Connacht, 317 from Leinster, 268 from Munster and 263 from Ulster

The Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs Every Step Counts Challenge, is back for a sixth year. The aim of the challenge is to create a healthier Ireland by encouraging people from all over the country to join together through their local GAA Club and get out walking over a five-week period. The challenge, which runs from the 8th January 2025 to 12th February 2025, is a country-wide initiative in partnership with Ireland Lights Up* and will be hosted on Irish Life’s health and wellbeing app, MyLife, allowing users to record and track their efforts and steps.

Findings from Irish Life’s 2024 Health of the Nation Report shows that 60% of Irish adults are now overweight or obese, with over 3 in 5 adults under 35 also reporting feelings of loneliness and isolation. Encouraging participation to combat these health issues, the Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs Every Step Counts Challenge sees users partake in an organised walk around their local GAA facilities each week, fostering healthy habits and greater community engagement.

During the 2024 Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs Every Step Counts Challenge, the campaign saw participation surge to an all-time high of 40,000, an increase of 10,000 people from 2023. Most notably, a promising uplift in new joiners in the 18-39 age category were seen, showcasing the efforts of this age group to improve their health and build connections. Together participants walked over 6.6 million kilometres throughout the 2024 campaign, an increase of one million kilometres completed from 2023.

The challenge offers the chance to win a share of €30,000 in GAA club funding from Irish Life. Each GAA Club that surpasses the 4,000-kilometre goal of collective steps recorded by their participants are entered into a draw to win one of three €2,500 donations towards club funding, across each province. The challenge was initially launched during lockdown to help people across Ireland get active and provide a social connection to others in their communities. Since 2021 the challenge has continued to evolve, with 970 clubs taking part in 2024 – a testament to the Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs Programme commitment to improve health and wellbeing in communities across Ireland.

Claire Myers of Round Towers GAA, Lusk, Co. Dublin said of their club’s experience: “Each Monday we organised a walk around our GAA facility fields, followed by tea/coffee and biscuits in the club, and we often found the children were encouraging their parents to bring them along too. It was

fun checking the app to see our individual steps and ranking in the club, but more importantly, how easy it was to monitor how our club’s steps total was progressing compared to other clubs in Leinster.

“The Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs Every Step Counts Challenge is a great initiative and it encouraged a lot of people to come out and walk. I received a lot of positive feedback from our members, saying it got them out and some of them are going to continue their Monday group walks, which is a very positive outcome. We’ll be back next year.”

Kate Casey, Head of Wellbeing Propositions at Irish Life commented “Our recent Irish Life 2024 Health of the Nation Report highlighted a concerning decline in physical activity and increased feelings of isolation, especially among those under 35. However, the consistent rise in participation in our Every Step Counts Challenge over the past 5 years demonstrates the importance of creating the opportunity for people to take part in physical activity, fostering a healthier and more connected community. The Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs Programme, club officers and volunteers play a pivotal role in promoting health and wellbeing for communities all over Ireland and Irish Life are delighted to support this initiative through the MyLife app.”

Colin Regan, GAA Community and Health Manager said: “The Steps Challenge epitomises what the Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs Programme is all about: it enables our inspirational club volunteers to put in place a health-enhancing intervention that benefits tens of thousands of people, while placing their club at the heart of their community. It brings to life the GAA motto ‘Where We All Belong’.”

The Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs Programme delivers health and wellbeing benefits worth €50M to Ireland, an independent Social Return on Investment (SROI) evaluation completed by Just Economics in 2023 confirms. The research highlighted the significant health and wellbeing gains for participants, including increases in physical activity and adopting of healthier behaviours.

As the initiative continues to gain momentum, Irish Life’s ambition is to grow the Every Step Counts Challenge to support communities becoming active through a fun and collaborative programme. The five-week challenge is not only an enjoyable way to get active within the community but can help participants track measurable improvements to their overall health through Irish Life’s MyLife App.

The 2024 winners of the Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs Every Step Counts Challenge were:

Connacht

· Kinvara GAA and Camogie Club, Galway – 4,099.7km tracked / 37 participants

· Club Iománaíochta Bearna Na Forbacha, Galway – 15,266.56km tracked / 76 participants

· Shannon Gaels, Roscommon – 8,900.5km tracked / 50 participants

Leinster

· Round Towers Lusk, Dublin – 19,080.9km / 110 participants

· Syddan GFC, Meath – 6,091.6km / 31 participants

· St Brendan’s Grangegorman, Dublin – 10,785.2km / 52 participants

Munster

· Ballydonoghue GAA, Kerry – 9,219.1km / 58 participants

· Ballygunner Hurling Club, Waterford – 17,527.6km / 106 participants

· Keel GAA, Kerry – 5,883.8km / 28 participants

Ulster

· O’Connell’s GAC Tullysaran, Armagh – 20,303.2km / 87 participants

· Kilrea GAC, Derry – 11,931.7km / 70 participants

· Omagh St Enda’s, Tyrone – 8,860.3km / 51 participants

Source:  GAA.ie