Newry and Mourne Senior Citizens Consortium was established when representatives of Senior Citizens Clubs in Newry and Mourne came together with newry Volunteer Bureau and Newry and Mourne Health and Social Services Trust. The group was constituted in May 1966 and since then has represented the interests of Senior Citizens Groups throughout the Newry and Mourne area.
The Consortium provides a range of support services to its member groups including capacity biuilding, training, support to access funding and assistance to develop fundraising strategies. It also provides information and advice to member groups and lobies extensively on behalf of senior citizens groups in the Newry and Mourne.

• To encourage local senior citizens clubs to improve the quality and range of recreational, social and cultural activities for their members.
• To encourage local senior citizens clubs to make links with similar clubs on a cross community, provincial and international levelTo engage the active support of a wide range of public and commercial bodies in Newry and Mourne for the aims of this project.
• To enable the local senior citizens clubs to attract increased funding/resources in support of individual club projects.
• To achieve an increase in numbers of 55+ participating in sport/physical exercise and a similar increase in numbers accessing adult education.
• To support older people to lobby for improvements on a range of issues identified as a priority by the Newry and Mourne Senior Citizens Movement.

Newry and Mourne Senior Citizens Consortium have been extremely active since their establishment. Key achievements include;

• The sheer number of groups, which is active within the movement. It is currently 55;
• Setting up of the University of the 3rd Age in the Newry and Mourne area;
  
  Hosting 4 “electric blanket roadshows” on an annual basis;
• Hosting 3 community safety conferences;
• Production of 4000 address books with information on local services for older people.
• Distribution of 1000 Bogus Caller Packs, including door chains, personal attack alarms, peep holes and uv pens distributed to older people.
• Facilitation of 2 highly successful cross-border projects with Cavan Over 50s Forum, both of which were funded by Co-Operation Ireland. The first of these was a series of drama workshops highlighting age discrimination & elder abuse. The second was the creation of a recipe & old cures book entitled “Inspiring Treasures From Age To Age”.
• Production of 500 calendars from an innovative cross-border project with Rehab Care, Dundalk entitled “Our Lives”.
• Involvement in a 4 year intergenerational project with St. Pauls High School, Bessbrook including elements of dance, science and reminiscence.
• Distribution of 40 energy efficiency goodie bags to local older people.
• Involvement in annual fuel poverty relief scheme.
• Annual grant aid clinics to assist in the completion of grant aid applications to SHSCT.
• Additional external funding secured for local groups.