Social Farming
Social Farming Support Office
The Social Farming Support Office has been established to continue the work of the Social Farming Across Borders (SoFAB) Project.
SoFAB was a highly successful EU INTERREG IVA Funded project which operated in the Border counties of Ireland and all of Northern Ireland in the period 2011-2014.
The Social Farming Office was opened in April 2015 by the Leitrim Development Company with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture Food & the Marine and the CEDRA Fund. It has been re-established to continue the work of the recently completed and highly successful Social Farming Across Borders (SoFAB) Project and will draw on the lessons learned and materials produced by the project.
Over the remainder of the year to December 2015 the Office will be supporting the development of Social Farming throughout Ireland. New Participants in Social Farming activities will be supported and Social farming initiatives will be further developed throughout the country.
The role of the office, which is staffed on a part-time basis by Helen Doherty & Brian Smyth, includes:
- Provision of advice and guidance to farmers /farm families throughout Ireland who wish to establish social farming services, through information and training events;
- Assistance in the development of service users and their families’ understanding of the potential and delivery of social farming services;
- Continue to raise public awareness of social farming through public events, mainstream and social media, engage with and support new initiatives around Ireland which are progressing and developing social farming.
The Social Farming Office will deal with all queries relating to Social Farming and can be contacted on:
Helen Doherty
Tel: 071 9641772 / 086 7905596
Email: helen@ldco.ie
