In Pictures: Crowds attend open day at Limerick farm

THERE are always jobs that need to be done on farms and completing them is good for body and soul.

Social farming is a continuation of that theme as it is the practice of offering activity on family farms as a form of social support service.

Eadaoin O’Connell, southwest regional development officer, said they are “not specialised, they are ordinary working farms that invite people to participate in the day-to-day activities on the farm”.

A well attended open morning was hosted by Aine Ni Chonaill and her family on their farm in Ballysimon this month. It brought together interested participants, service providers and farmers in County Limerick to learn all about social farming and how to get involved.

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The event kicked off with a few words from Ms O'Connell followed by Social Farming Ireland's national co-ordinator, Helen Doherty, who gave an insight into the valuable ongoing work nationally on farms across the country, engaged in social farming.

Host social farmer, Ms Ni Chonaill spoke about her family farm and her social farming experience before giving a tour of her idyllic farm in Ballysimon.

“The morning was a resounding success for those in attendance, with great interest arising from the event and people now having a greater understanding of social farming and the benefits for those who both facilitate and participate in the initiative.

“Social farming provides people with the opportunity to spend time on a family farm in a healthy, supportive, and inclusive environment.

“A person may choose to spend a fixed amount of time on the farm participating in activities they may be interested in such as gardening, animal care or indoor activities such as baking bread or jam making,” said Ms O'Connell.

Key to the process is the social interactions, with the farm family, friends, neighbours and even wider community.

Interested farmers across County Limerick are encouraged to get in contact to meet a growing demand across support services and schools to engage in social farming placements year-round.

For more information on social farming please email eoconnell@wlr.ie