Kerry Social Farming is organising a seminar ‘A Closer look at Kerry Social Farming’ on this Friday, December 4th at the Malton Hotel, Killarney from 9.am to 1.pm.
This seminar will cover topics such as: Introduction to Social Farming; planning and developing social farming; health and wellbeing and farm fafety and insurance.
All are welcome to attend including: farmers; potential social farming participants; families; advocates; service providers and community representatives. Places are limited and booking is required through: Lisa Murphy, telephone 064 66 36 572.
Build Relationships
“This is an opportunity to meet host farmers, social farm participants and service providers involved in the project to learn from their experiences and build relationships with people who want to make the lives of people with special needs in Kerry more inclusive. This seminar is supported by the Social Inclusion and Community Activation programme,” said Lisa Murphy.
The Kerry Social Farming project started during the summer of 2013 to help build closer links between the farming community & people with additional needs. In Social Farming, the farm remains a working farm at its core but invites people to participate in the activities of the farm. While on the farms people are encouraged to participate in the farming activities of the day and build relationships with the wider community.
Open their Farm Gates
The aim of the project was to establish a number of Social Farms in County Kerry which open their farm gates to people with additional needs to come and spend time on their farm and enjoy the experience of being with animals and plants in a safe and friendly environment. Currently there are 8 host farms operating in the project with 16 young adults going out onto these farms every week. There is potential to grow these numbers in the coming years.
The Kerry Social Farming project is being promoted through a working group which consist of members from South Kerry Development Partnership Ltd with: North, West & East Kerry Development; Kerry Parents & Friends; St John of God Kerry Services; Cunamh Iveragh; Kerry Downs Syndrome and host farmers.
New Project for Kerry
While this is a relatively new project for Kerry, Social Farming is well developed in other EU countries and in the border region in Ireland through the Social Farming Across Borders which is supported by the European Union’s INTERRIG IVA Programme. Further information on this project can be found by clicking on the link here: www.socialfarmingacrossborders.org
