Social Farming really works, for participants and their families, for support services and for social farmers. This was one of the key messages to come out of a national conference held by Social Farming Ireland at the Killashee Hotel in Co. Kildare.
For participants, the sheer variety of activities naturally available, the family environment which they can become part of, the “realness” of what happens on the farm are all of tremendous value and impossible to replicate in an institutional or clinical context.
Brendan Bright, who has spent time on Val and Una Crosses’ social farm in Kildare spoke of becoming firm friends with the couple and how he got the chance to fulfil his “bucket-list” dream of getting back on a horse on their farm. Brendan is not from a farming or rural background but the experience has helped bring him back to life especially in the post-Covid period. He said the closest he had ever been to a cow or calf was seeing them from a moving car yet he found himself getting a kick out of feeding them. “You’d have some row with those calves if you didn’t get the mixture out to them fast enough!” he said.
Currently, funding for Social Farming placements is fragmented both geographically and across support services/agencies. This means that latent demand cannot be met adequately and that significant resources have to be continually deployed by multiple stakeholders to access funding from a wide array of sources. More mainstream funding is needed to support the concept.
For further information, contact Helen Doherty, Social Farming Ireland National Coordinator at helen@ldco.ie or 071 964 1772.