Seminar Witnesses Social Farming in Action

20/08/2010

The Rural Network NI organised a study visit to a social/care farm on 17th August 2010 to which delivery agents of the NI Rural Development Programme were invited.

The afternoon seminar sought to elaborate further on the concept of Social Farming and explore the options for potential support across the NI Rural Development Programme. The seminar began with a series of short presentations at the Signal Centre in Bangor, where speakers provided more information on the concept of social farming and how widely developed the practice is across Ireland, UK and Europe. Zita Murphy from DARD Rural Policy Division offered an update on the NI perspective of Social Farming, whilst Brian Smyth (Leitrim Development Co), and Aideen McGloin and Deirdre O'Connor of the Social Farming Community of Practice Group (UCD) provided further details across Ireland and Europe. The day concluded with a busy tour of the Growing Connections Care Farm, outside Bangor, where Joan Woods and her colleagues spoke of the support her farm offers vulnerable members of the community. The concept of Social Farming (or care farming) where agricuture and/or horticulture is used as a therapeutic tool to provide health, social or educational care services for a range of vulnerable groups, is still in its infancy in Northern Ireland, but is widely growing across the UK, Ireland and Europe, in particular in Holland and Belgium (Flanders). Speakers at the seminar emphasised the need for an organisation to champion the concept of Social Farming and begin to tackle the barriers to wider adoption by social service providers and others. The Rural Network NI is planning future activities under the theme of Social Farming to include the potential facilitation of meetings with Social Service providers and other interested parties and additional visits to social/care farms across NI, ROI and UK to further witness this concept in action. The Rural Network has prepared a factsheet on Social Farming. Also uploaded to the 'Publications' section of the Rural Network website is a report prepared by DARD Rural Policy Division on 'Social Farming: An opportunity for Northern Ireland'.

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