Cash prize for adventurous old folk

AS part of their 25th anniversary celebrations, Age & Opportunity is offering two

?¬5,000 bursaries to members of Ireland’s older community in an effort to get them to fulfill a burning ambition.

The Life is for Living Bursary is open to applicants aged 60 years or more.

Eager that the bursary goes towards an adventure that will inspire others, the organisation is encouraging entrants to think big, whether their wish is to take scuba diving lessons off the Great Barrier Reef, learn to cook from an Italian mama or head to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee for music lessons.

Research has proved that happiness and learning are closely linked and Age & Opportunity is keen to explore this by providing someone with a new experience or allowing them to learn something new.

The Life is for Living Bursary will allow someone to travel either in Ireland or abroad to experience something new and share what they are learning with others as they go.

Age & Opportunity will provide the chosen applicant with e5,000 funding.

To be in with a chance, all you need to do is tell them how you would spend the money on your dream. The closing date for applications is Friday, November 29 and applications may focus on any combination of the areas of education, the arts or the environment.

The VoltAge Bursary recognises the energy and the contribution of older people in their communities across the country.

It is inspired by the huge amount of volunteering and community contributions carried out by older people and this is something Age & Opportunity want to share with the rest of Ireland.

The chosen community initiative will receive e5,000 funding from Age & Opportunity as well as support of relevant expertise and back up from the business sector.

The bursary will support community-based activities that promote people as active citizens

Looking for projects that demonstrate older people’s capacity and potential for taking on roles within their localities, the winning project will be innovative, replicable and an effective local community intervention.

The organisation is keen to highlight intergenerational projects where the primary applicant is an older people’s community organisation/active retired group working with or enabling, for example, a youth club, student group or a group of young jobseekers.

Again, the winning project must be from one of three areas of community involvement.

The closing date for applications for the VoltAge Bursary is Friday, January 31 2014 and applicants must be prepared to evaluate and learn from their work and share their ideas with others.

Projects for each bursary must be completed by the end of September 2014 and a full list of terms and conditions that apply are available on www.ageandopportunity.ie

For more information on Age & Opportunity, visit www.ageandopportunity.ie or find the organisation on Facebook or Twitter (@Age_Opp)