On Wednesday 18th June Tipperary Age Friendly were delighted to host its annual Age Friendly EXPO in the TUS Campus in Thurles.
This event is the highlight and main activity of Tipperary Age Friendly annually. This event is arranged by the Age Friendly Programme Manager but with strong input from the Executive of the Older Peoples Council. The Older Peoples Council is the voice of older people. Through the Older Peoples Council in Tipperary, older people exercise a strong, guiding influence on age friendly local development and policy making.
This is the 4th Age Friendly EXPO held at the TUS college campus. It featured 75 information stands ranging from Council Services including Community, Local Enterprise Office, Tourism, Sports Partnership, Fire Service, Libraries and Museum, Health, Housing, Technology, Family Resource and Community and Voluntary Sector. We had a number of new information stands this year as we grow from strength to strength.
The event also featured a wide range of speakers including Tipperary Age Friendly Ambassador John Lonergan, Mr Nabeel Al Shammary from UPMC, Fiona Foley National Lead HSE Understand Together, Rosemary Lynch, Lynch Solicitors, Karen Fennessey from the National Age Friendly Healthy Homes, Mary D’Arcy from Fraudsmart, Tracey Noone Meals on Wheels, Task Community Care, Vision Ireland, Neil Dennehy Health Matters and our own Older Peoples Council member Leo D’Arcy who presented on Loneliness.
The event included beautiful musical interludes with Rockwell Music Academy and Templemore Active Retirement and those attending danced the afternoon away with John McCormack.
Fiona Crotty, Tipperary Age Friendly Programme Manager acknowledged the “success of the annual EXPO stems from the participation from the Older Peoples Council in having topics of interest, to the full engagement of all of the stands, exhibitors and speakers. It is an event that grows from strength to strength and we are very fortunate to have the full support of TUS Thurles in hosting this event annually and we look forward to hosting the 5th EXPO in June in 2026. The hosting of the EXPO is a key annual event of Tipperary Age Friendly, it is an opportunity for engagement, social connections, showcasing supports and services in the county and building membership of Tipperary Age Friendly”.
Mary MacMahon is the Chair of Tipperary Older Peoples Council noted that “This annual event is a brilliant showcase of supports, interests of interest to older people and it provides a great opportunity to network, socially engage and enjoy great company and the wonderful range of refreshments. To enable attendance Tipperary County Council have provided grants to the community groups to provide buses to attend the event, all of which contributes to a very positive day. I would also like to thank the members of the OPC executive who volunteered on the day to act as stewards and promoted the OPC”
Tipperary Age Friendly will host information workshops this September on Housing and Supports for Living in your own Home in Horse & Jockey Hotel.
We will launch Volume 3 of Reminiscence Project Booklet “Back in My Day” in Fethard Day Care on 30th September and we look forward to a planning a full range of activities to support Positive Ageing Week 2025 29th September to 3rd October.
For more information in relation to Tipperary Age Friendly and for a full listing of all of the information stands and carousel of photos showcasing the event are available on www.tipperarycoco.ie and we look forward to hosting our event in June 2026.
For more information contact
Fiona Crotty
Tipperary Age Friendly Programme Manager
Tipperary County Council
Phone 087 1252938
Email fiona.crotty@tipperarycoco.ie
