This month we’re celebrating the first results of the Generations Uniting through Movement (GUM) pilot projects, with a touching video launched by GUM partner Azur Sport Santé in Nice, France, featuring the seniors and young volunteers from its programme. We use the word “celebrate” because impact can be so tricky to measure from short-term initiatives. But the impact of this pilot is clear – albeit on a micro-scale. The responses from the participants captured in the video above highlight why initiatives that have an immediate positive effect are worthy of being scaled up and multiplied.

Azur Sport Santé collaborated on the pilot with Unis Cité association in Nice to organise and deliver eight one-hour sessions with activities including yoga, walking, dance, mindfulness and meditation with the overall aim of developing a programme that can help combat loneliness and social isolation among seniors.

This GUM pilot in Nice included 10 seniors aged 65+, 10 volunteers aged 16-25 and a facilitator (Yasmina, pictured on the video thumbnail) from Unis Cité. It used a buddy system, pairing one senior and one volunteer for the duration of the programme. They chose the activities together, focusing on play, movement, relaxation and getting to know each other, which was an effective approach and a valuable learning experience for Azur Sport Santé, according to its Head of Development, Dusan Pjevac.

“It was an opportunity for Azur Sport Santé to discover a new field with intergenerational physical activity,” he says in the video. “Seeing the interactions between the youth and the elderly and how they benefited from the programme was really great.” 

The early feedback from this trial intergenerational activity is a poignant reminder of both the need for sports, fitness and social clubs to reach out to and include older target groups, and the almost immediate benefits of doing so: “Well, let’s face it, it’s sad to grow old. When I come here, it makes me feel good,” one of the participants in the video says with a quavering voice. “I’m going back home [after the sessions] and I’m very happy, and it allowed me to meet a lot of people, which I really appreciate.”

The results of this project pilot coincided with results of a study published by Monash University in Australia this month, which showed that seniors are eager to sign up for exercise classes when presented the opportunity. Over 7000 Australian seniors aged 65+ participated in that study, and indicated that affordable exercise classes subsidised by local governments would attract more seniors to participate.  

While the cost-effectiveness of initiatives like the GUM pilots and those featured in the Australian study should be a persuasive result for governments and clubs, we at ISCA are celebrating the direct results of our partners’ work on the people in their communities. And we love the feedback they received from both the young volunteers and the seniors featured in the video.

Young volunteer: “This programme has given me the opportunity to meet and share the energy and the morale too. It was really great.”

Senior participant: “You learn a lot and then you remember it when you are home alone and it does us good. Yasmina taught us well.”

Learn more about ISCA’s Generations Uniting through Movement (GUM) project: https://www.generationsmove.org/

Azur Sport Santé https://azursportsante.fr/ 
Unis Cité https://www.uniscite.fr/antenne/nice/ 

Video thumbnail image: Facilitator Yasmina from Unis Cité