Arts, drama and other creative activities have been at the centre of Third Age Foundation programmes from its foundation. Providing creative opportunities for older people is one of the central tenets of the Third Age Foundation and is embraced with enthusiasm by organisers and participants alike. Getting older can be a time for discovery or rediscovery of our creativity. Many older people had little or no opportunity to partake in creative activities during their busy lives as homemakers and workers and older age provides many with the opportunity to unlock creative potential for the first time. 

Creative programmes range from events organised to coincide with Bealtaine, the annual festival celebrating creativity in older people, to drama workshops that run every year from September to June, to arts activities undertaken in partnership with residents from St. Joseph’s Hospital to intergenerational arts activities with local children and ethnic minority groups such as members of the Traveller Community. Arts and drama activities cross into all the areas in which the Third Age Foundation work and provide endless opportunities for engagement by both volunteers and participants. The art tutor, Paddy D’Arcy, is a TAF member and a retired local artist, and he plays a key role in guiding the artistic activities. 

Much work is being done nationally and internationally at integrating arts into health services and there is sufficient evidence available to indicate that successfully integrating arts in health services can result in many benefits, including faster recovery times, reductions in medication and increased mobility and motivation in long-term patients.