Demonstration of Work in SICAP 2018 - 2022

Case Study: Social Farming Project

LDC: NEWKD (North East & West Kerry Development)

Primary Theme: Target Group Engagement

Secondary Themes: Collaboration

Background Kerry Social Farming

“As chairman of the working group of Kerry Social Farming we welcome this evaluation report. We very much appreciate the innovative approach taken by NEWKD and SKDP in the coming together to develop KSF. Six years ago SICAP agreed to provide seed funding to KSF to help the project to get off the ground. This played a major part in the decision of Department of Agriculture Food & the Marine coming on board later with support from CEDRA funding. The working group is made up of participants, host farmers, guardians, Local Link Kerry, HSE, KCC, SKDP, NEWKD and support workers from the partner organizations. We are committed to delivering the social farming opportunity to a growing number of participants and our experience to date has proved that our voluntary model will achieve this in a sustainable way”

George Kelly –Chairperson KSF

BackgroundKerry Social Farming has been operating social farms since 2014. It is a locally-led, community-based, shared service that provides farming and social inclusion opportunities to people with intellectual disabilities and acquired brain injuries, all within local communities.

Kerry Social Farming (KSF) was founded on principles of equality, social inclusion, voluntary community development and collaboration. It is currently the only voluntary model of social farming in Ireland in that farmers are not paid for their time with participants.

From the beginnings in early 2013 in South Kerry social farming has helped to build closer links between the farming community and people with disabilities and has grown steadily and sustainably from year to year, delivering 76 days of social farming within the first six months of July-December 2013, to 264 social farming days in the last six-month period from January to June 2017. The KSFP has expanded from four farms in 2013 to a total of 11 social farms by the end of October 2017.

NEWKD commenced working on the project in 2016 with a view to developing it in the North East and West Kerry Area utilizing the Social and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) and making it a countywide project.

Approach

In Ireland there have been many progressive developments in relation to equality and human rights. However, we still have a journey to travel in respect of ensuring that many of our most vulnerable citizens enjoy the same rights as the rest of us, and that our society genuinely and 1 | P a g e

fully reflects the principles and vision of equality and fairness. Government policy is moving in the right direction with respect to individualised budgets and progression plans for people with particular needs. However, much remains to be done to truly empower people, and there is a need for further cultural, attitudinal, institutional and organisational changes at many levels. Kerry Social Farming makes an important contribution to enabling such changes to happen. It offers real choice to people with particular needs and their families, and the model applied here in Kerry is clearly enabling people to realise their potential.

Case Study Focus This case study will focus on the development instigation and development of social farming in the North East West Kerry area.

The Development of Social Farming in NEWK Region

Area OverviewThe following map presents the case study area which is the North East West Kerry area. It encompasses all of North Kerry, including three of the four largest towns in Kerry, namely Tralee, Listowel and Castleisland. In addition, it incorporates the Corca Dhuibhne Peninsula, which includes the town of Dingle / An Daingean / Daingean Uí Chúis and the West Kerry Gaeltacht. Our catchment also includes rural East Kerry, from Castleisland and Kilcummin to the border with Duhallow.

Map 1: Catchment Area of NE&W Kerry Development

Source: Pobal MapsNEWKD / SICAP supporting the Disability SectorNEWKD has been active in the area of disability under SICAP and previous programmes for many years and as part of our SICAP work we have been approached regarding gaps and have provided supports in areas such as making sports activities accessible to people with disabilities, supporting carers, supporting options for socialising, supporting interventions in the area of education and mental health. Staff members have also undergone training with Disability Federation of Ireland and Cara.

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Nationally 13.5 % of the population have a disability. Employment opportunities are restricted with 130,067 persons with a disability aged 15 and over at work accounting for 22.3 per cent of the total disabled working population of 584,045 as compared with 53.4 per cent for the overall population aged 15 and over who were at work. The NEWK region has a number of areas with higher rates of disability than the national. In the Tralee Rural 14.7% stated they had a disability, 20% in Tralee Urban, 16.5% Dingle, 15.6 % Castleisland. Kerry has the 4th highest level of unpaid carers at 4.85%.

As well as barriers to employment there are obstacles to partaking in recreational and social outlets and this was outlined by participants and service providers in NEWK area. It was clear that they considered social farming as an attractive activity.

National Policy Disability policy has been moving towards empowering supporting people with disabilities and supporting them to full integrate into the community (see appendix 1). There was demand from PWD and service providers for increased social options including the social option of social farming as some had heard about the project.

Key Steps in the Development of Social Farming in NEWKD

1. Identifying FarmersInitially marts, IFA, ICMSA and other farmer specific groups were canvassed and met with. It became clear from any early stage that none of these interventions were yielding any results. The breakthrough in this came with the involvement of the NEWKD run Farm Families Committee. Although social farming had been presented to them from the outset and they had been kept informed of the interim work, it was only when they were formally asked for help that progress started to be made. It was quickly identified that social farming would be a good fit for smaller, part-time farmers operating family farms. These farms by their nature would provide the required experience for the client group. This committee recommended the Rural Social Scheme (RSS) participants as the most likely people to be interested in the initiative.

NEWKD manages the RSS in North and East Kerry. The SICAP development worker Dave Fitzgibbon was invited to address one of their annual social gatherings. He gave a presentation to ninety participants and six supervisors in Lyreacrompane Community Centre in early December 2017. As a result of this 13 farmers expressed an interest in social farming and a series on one-to-one meetings were booked with them for early in the New Year. The combination of using RSS and Farm Families Committee and initially concentrating on smaller farms proved successful.

2. Introduction to Social farming The development worker met with the farmers in January 2018. From those meetings we were left with seven real potential host farmers. The others had a variety of reasons that excluded them at the time including:3 | P a g e

Good Practise Steps

a) The farm was unsuitable – overgrown, not well maintained. b) The farmer’s enthusiasm was not shared by their spouse or other family member. c) The farmer could not commit to being available every week for a minimum half day

period. Two farmers made the decision to withdraw at this stage.

3. Farm visits The development worker arranged for a visit to a host farm in Kerry. In February, on two separate dates, all potential host farmers were brought to George Kelly’s farm in Killorglin. George, is a host farmer for the past three years, and is also Chairman of Kerry Social Farming working group. This group are the effective managers of the project. This farm was picked because he hosts three clients on Wednesday’s. This allowed potential host farmers to meet George, the clients and a support worker from St John of Gods who is there each week to support one of the clients. This provided an ideal ‘on site’ opportunity for the farmers to meet service users, support staff and host farmers in one place and to see first-hand the initiative in action. The tea and biscuits in the kitchen around the big table provided plenty of opportunity for information exchange and to get a real sense of the community spirit of social farming.

An open farm day was planned for March 2018 and took place on a North Kerry farm outside Tralee. This was an important showcase event for social farming and was attended by dignitaries from Government departments, local authority, local development partnerships, IFA, ICMSA and others, as well as all the host farmers, service providers, service users and their families. Potential host farmers from North Kerry were invited to attend. There was a ‘farm walk’ for all on arrival, giving another opportunity to see the operational side of social farming. This was followed by a number of addresses from Kerry Social Farming, IFA and NEWKD. There was a meeting of all the operational host farmers, facilitated by Kerry Social farming. The North Kerry contingent attended the meeting in order to further familiarise themselves with the project.

4. Farm Audits and Safety checks Each potential host farm was visited by Kerry Social Farming and an independent farm health and safety audit was conducted. This was done in the presence of the farmer and a comprehensive report was issued. An assessment of the report was considered by Kerry Social Farming.

All host farmers, family members and farm workers were then Garda vetted as part of the safety checks. Kerry Social Farming ensured that the farm is properly insured to participate in the project. Where this insurance requirement comes at a cost to the farmers, this cost was borne by Kerry Social Farming

5. Upgrade works As a result of the farm audits, a work programme was planned and costed. Funding for the upgrade works came from a combination of NEWKD SICAP funding and Kerry Social Farming grant allocations. Some farms required no or very little work, some required a decent amount of investment and, unfortunately, some farm upgrades were considerably beyond the capacity and budget of the social farming budget. It needs to be noted that all farm upgrade works are designed to meet the health and safety needs of the service user.

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6. Meet with disability service providersDepending on the requirements of the service user, some have a support worker from their service provider with them all the time, others did not require any day to day supports. Regardless of this the service providers, called job coaches, accompanied all service users for the first few visits. In advance of this, job coaches were invited to visit new farms, meet the host farmer and family, provide an insight into the service users that will be coming to the farm (their likes and dislikes, some love animals, some love planting, some are comfortable making tea, some love the more physical type of work) and familiarise themselves with the farm and its surroundings. This also provided the ideal opportunity for host farmers and family to ask the specific questions that they need answers to in advance of the service user’s arrival.

7. Arrange farm visit for client and support worker This is a vital phase of the initiative. In spite of all preparation work, particularly with the service user, the actual visit to the farm is the reality that this is happening. The visit is planned as a visit, allowing all concerned to ease into the “getting to know you” phase. It is then that a work plan for the next appearance on the farm is agreed allowing input from both the host farmer and service user. This visit also provides the opportunity for the service user to familiarise themselves with the physical infrastructure of the farm and farmhouse.

8. Trial Period Unlike other social farming models that operate time specific models, some of the Kerry Social Farming service users have been on the project for a few years. Social farming has become a huge part of their lives and the same can be said of the host farmer. In order to make sure that everyone concerned is comfortable with each other, an initial ten-week trial period is agreed. This allows for both the service user and farmer to have confidence that there is an exit mechanism in the event that such a need arises. In terms of good practice it is seen as a vital and reasonable proposal.

Example of Setting up a Farm in North Kerry – Reena Blake

Rena Blake is an RSS participant. She and her partner have a twenty-acre farm located about two miles outside Ballybunion. She is a passionate environmentalist, keen photographer and filmmaker who has a deep connection and love of the heritage of the land. She is an organic gardener growing a huge array of vegetables and herbs, both in polytunnel and outside. She also has a planted 300 tree forest, ducks, chickens and cows.

As an RSS participant, Rena was at the meeting at which Social Farming was presented and the pleas for new host farmers in North Kerry made. After the meeting Rena contacted the SICAP development worker and arranged to meet him on the farm the following week. The worker outlined the commitment required from the host farmers on the project and the supports offer to the host farmers. At the end of the two-hour

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Rena Blake, RSS Participant & Farm

meeting it was agreed that Rena would discuss her participation with family and revert within a week. She contacted NEWKD the following day to say yes.

Rena had been part of the trip to visit George Kelly farm in Killorglin. This farm was chosen because George hosts three participants. All three have different capacity levels and require different supports. One of the participants (who is also a member of the Working group) is an independent, capable man who loves the physical aspect of farm work. The second is a man with an acquired brain injury who is less able for the physical work but loves the animals. He enjoys feeding and cleaning up the barn areas. The third participant is non-verbal and is accompanied by a qualified jobs coach from Kerry Parents and Friends. She loves the engagement with the animals.

The visit gave Rena the opportunity to meet and spend quality time with George, the participants and the jobs coach. She used to opportunity to familiarise herself with the concept of social farming. Reena said she ”saw the responsibility of care for the participants and the opportunity to be a really meaningful and positive influence in the participant’s lives“. Based on the evidence during the visit, she understood the deep and special relationship between the participants and the farm and of the value of having a host farmer whose obvious love of the land and the animals was transferred to the participants.

Within two weeks of the visit a farm audit was conducted and a health and safety check completed. A number of farm improvement actions were recommended in order to provide easier farm access and make the area more disability friendly. It was further agreed to construct a new polytunnel with a new access directly from the farmyard. It is important to point out that the farm audit and agreed improvement were agreed on the basis that Rena had committed to become a host farmer and to work with Kerry Social Farming for a minimum period of two years on a minimum of one day per week.

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Social Farm is born When the works were completed the co-ordinator of Kerry Social Farming Irene Kavanagh arranged for staff from St John of Gods and Kerry Parents and Friends to visit the farm with her, meet Rena, have a good look around and discuss start dates for participants.

Three weeks later, two St John of Gods service users arrived on Rena’s farms. Both participants are women and were accompanied by job coaches. They spend all of the day outdoors because of the glorious weather. They were planting and weeding in the newly appointed herb garden, fed and watered chickens and ducks and were given a tour of the farm.

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They enjoyed tea and scones during the morning and lunch before leaving armed with collected eggs. Both of the participants loved the experience and returned the following weeks. It has been agreed that neither of the participants will require a job coach in order to continue social farming with Rena and this will be withdrawn over a phased period. Rena is delighted with the way the project is developing and is very quick to point to the value that she is getting from her involvement in the project.

Role of SICAP & funded staff and the skillset required for this work

The SICAP programme delivered by NEWKD was instrumental in the development of Social Farming in North Kerry. This was through done through two resources:

Funding SICAP provided funding for farm modifications which complemented funding from the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine.

StaffNEWKD allocated a portion of a SICAP funded development workers time to the development of social farming in NEWK. This allowed the project to attain a number of skills and attributes that an experienced community development worker can bring. The worker is also supported by programme manager and SICAP team

Knowledge

Skills8 | P a g e

Funding Staff

Collaborative PracticeDW has the ability to work collaboratively with a range of stakeholders (e.g. farmers, SF working group, disability sector, people with disabilities).

Inclusion and Equality issuesDW has an understanding of social exclusion and equalityl, the ways in which discrimination takes place and people are excluded, and understandd these issues in relation to people with disabilities.

Qualities

Horizontal Principles of Community Development & Equality

Community Development 9 | P a g e

C o m m u n ic a t io n , w r it in g a n d p r e s e n t a t io nT h e D W h a d to p re s e n t a n d p r o m o te th e p ro je c t to s ta k e h o ld e r s a n d g e t fa rm e rs in p a rti c u la r to s e e th e p o s s ib iliti e s , a w s w e ll a s re c o rd in g a n d re p o rti n g o n p ro g re s s .

M o t iv a tin g a n d w o r k in g w ith p e o p le in a n e m p o w e r in g m a n n e r T o d e v e lo p re la ti o n s h ip s w ith a w id e ra n g e o f p e o p le , to m a k e p e o p le fe e l re la x e d , m o ti v a te d e m p o w e re d .

N e g o tia t io nD e a lin g w ith th e v a r io u s p a r ti e s in o rd e r to g e t th e b e s t fo r th e c lie n t , w h ile a lso m a k in g s u re th a t fa rm e r s a n d a ll c o n n e c te d w ith th e p r o je c t w e re sa ti sfi e d

R e fle c t iv e p r a c tic e T h e D W s u n d e r s ta n d in g o f re fl e c ti v e p r a c ti s e m e a n s a n o p e n n e s s to r e fe c ti o n o n h is a n d N E W K D a p p ro a c h e s p e c ia lly in th e e a r ly d a y s o f th e p ro je c t w h e n p r o g re s s w a s s lo w . H e h a d in -h o u s e m e e ti n g s w ith th e S IC A P m a n a g e r , o th e r c o lle a g u e s a n d k e y s ta k e h o ld e r s , to d is c u s s p ro g re ss , w h a t w a s g o in g w e ll a n d w h a t n e e d e d to c h a n g e a n d a ls o w ith th e L C D C .

RespectThe participants and key stakeholders in particular are met with respect and the approach that we (NEWKD/SICAP) work for them.

FlexibilityThe DW had meetings at night in different locations, had to be open to trying different approaches, while also needing to learn more about farms and farmers and be guided by the stakeholders.

Community development is defined in the SICAP guidelines as “a developmental activity comprised of both a task and a process. The task is social change to achieve equality, social justice and human rights, and the process is the application of principles of participation, empowerment and collective decision making in a structured and co-ordinated way.”

Community development principles are embedded in the project in the way in which clients are placed at the centre of the project and everything is oriented to support them in the best possible way. The focus of the project is inclusion and social justice given the inequalities that people with disabilities face in society which means they face barriers to employment and social integration which those without disabilities do not

Equality Disability is one of the 9 grounds under which discrimination is unlawful and supporting PWD to be fully included in all aspects of society is fundamental to having an equal and fair society. NEWKD subscribe to the social model of disability in that it is not the person that is the issue but the environment in that society is often set up only for a certain percentage of the population and that needs to change. This is why for example jobs coaches supporting participants, farm upgrades are made, and the parties getting to know each other through informal social interactions are all key to the success of the project.

Collaboration KSF is an example of collaboration, from community level to overall county governance, through LCDC to national departmental supports through key government departments.

Kerry Social Farming is managed by a dedicated working group. The working group meets monthly. In 2016 Kerry Social Farming successfully applied for pilot funding from the Department of Agriculture. This three year funding allowed for the employment of a fulltime co-ordinator which was essential as the number of farms and the volume of work was becoming an issue for the working group. Irene Kavanagh is employed as the co-ordinator and she is supported by a part-time administrator through the SKDP run RSS scheme. Irene runs the day to day business of Kerry Social Farming and reports to the working group. The working group is made up of people covering all aspects of the social farming spectrum and has evolved to meet the changing needs of the project over the years. The most recent additions are the participant family representatives. See appendix 2 and 3 for working group composition and list of funders.

The Kerry LCDC is represented on the working group and is a strong advocate for the project. Under SICAP, NEWKD has 17 Actions, a range of projects within these and a large number of target groups and areas to service. The LCDC emphasised that the project was one of their priorities and this helped NEWKD to develop the project.

Key Learning –what worked well and what did not work wellWhat Worked Well

The 8 steps outlined is systematic approach to the development of social farms which worked well in the North East West Kerry area and in particular the following elements:

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The meetings and linkages with the RSS and participants opened up contacts amongst the smaller sized farms this allied to the role of the NEWKD, Farm Families Committee was key

The farm visits for the prospective farmers and the manner in which it was done gave them a great insight into what the project entailed and its purpose

The collaborative aspect of farmers working together and with agencies has increased understanding and learning for everyone involved across a range of issues, disability, farming and service provision

Having a SICAP funded development worker to support the project in the area supported by the co-ordinator of Kerry Social Farming.

Overall feedback from participants is very positive

Stakeholder Feedback

“It has been really great to meet other interesting farmers and visit their farms. I really only got into Social Farming because of the support and encouragement of the NEWKD development worker. I have found him very positive and helpful. The building of the new accessible tunnel and path is really important and will be of great benefit over the next few years” Rena Blake Social Farmer

What could have been done better

Initial attempts at recruitment were unsuccessful and visits to farm marts were unproductive and on a number of occasions farmers were unsure and asked what the cost of this would be to them or what payments they could expect to receive for their participation. It became clear that many of the big farmers running farms as full time businesses were not in a position to support the initiative..

Some participants have fed back that at times communications could have been clearer and things seemed to move slowly

We were slow to engage with local service providers on the ground and initially only linked with them through the working group.

Some farmers felt the paperwork involved was off-putting. In hindsight we could have explained the requirements and the need for the requirements more clearly.

NEWKD could have been quicker to develop of a North Kerry host farmer network group. Although this group will now be developed and meet in 2019 on a farm ideally, two to three times per year.

There are no social farms in West Kerry and NEWKD will attempt to address this in 2019

Stakeholder Feedback

“It took weeks of work over the summer to get the farm yard up to the necessary safety standards which we had to do on our own. It would have been very helpful if we could have had some physical help with this work from the likes of RSS or the Men's Sheds “. Rena Blake Social Farmer

The farm families committee believe that the project should not be viewed as only being for smaller farms and feel that it can work on larger farms also John Dalton – Chairperson Farm Families Committee

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Key outcomes and outputs for clients and other stakeholders Overall outputs

a) Gortbrack organic farm – operational - two participants have already started. As one participant is visually impaired SJOG staff met with host farmers and a lady from the National Council for Blind on the farm, as she was able to make recommendations regarding his participation and capacity

b) Rena Blake – Operational - two participants from St John of Gods (Case study and photos below)

c) Mary Healy Ballyduff – Operational - Two participants one day per weekd) Maura Sheehy, Ballyroe – not yet operational. We are awaiting completion of work to be

done on her premises, before participants can start. I would envisage she will be up and running by end of August.

e) Shannow FRC – operates a gardening project in the grounds of the centre. They have raised beds and poly-tunnels and have been supporting social farming for over a year

f) Helen O Mahony Castleisland Community Garden – operating beside An Riocht the garden has a number of tunnels, raised beds and outdoor communal growing areas. The scheme is well supported in the community and managed through the NEWKD RSS scheme by participant and farmer Willie Reidy. The initiative has been operational in social farming since early 2018

All in all, there are 6 farms up and running by end Aug 2018 in NEWKD area. All these host farms are quite varied, match the participants personal interests and preferences and all offer/will offer excellent social farming opportunities. The host farmers coming on board are very genuine and are very enthusiastic regarding getting started.

Outcomes Social Farming in the NEWK area has become an important part of the well-being of participants.

Service providers and Participants Feedback –St John Of Gods “This is in relation to the 4 service users we have attending the Listowel Day Service who also attend the Social Farming in Rena Blake’s farm in Ballybunion and Mary Healy’s farm in Ballyduff. This has become an integral part of the timetable for these service users.

All service users attend the farm for 2 hours a week. The participants enjoy the work but also enjoy the social aspect of the farming and have gained immensely from the relationships they have developed with the farmers and their families.

The staff support for the first 4-6 weeks and once the participants are confident this support is withdrawn and the service users gain independence.

Client A has the following needs Prader Willi Syndrome and needs much support around food and access to same. As part of this syndrome client A also has low muscle tone and therefore needs to have level ground and easily accessible areas for work.

Client B has Aperts Syndrome. As part of this she has reduced balance and as she has 4 digits she has low fine motor skills. Again she will need level ground and easily accessible work areas.

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Client C has Autism. Therefore routine is very important and building relationships has improved his confidence. He was also a poor attendee previous to this and as he loves Social Farming he now has very good attendance.

Client D has Downs Syndrome and additional medical issues. He works very well with Mary and again his confidence has grown immensely since joining the farming”

Farmers The farms remained as working farms while offering participant opportunities to learn

farm skills, life skills, connect with the rural community and build relationships. Farmers can be isolated as they tend to work alone and social farming provides them

with opportunities to meet people and have company and social interaction which is key to sell –being

Farms are upgraded which enhances the health and safety of the farm which is an issue for many farmers

The act of supporting/giving to others is proven to be of benefit to well-being and this is confirmed by the farmers in this project

Stakeholder Feedback

John Dalton –NEWKD Farm Families Committee Chair person

“Many farmers can be quite isolated and this can impact on the work and on their mental health and having company on the farm has the duel benefits of the social interaction and also motivating the farmer to organise jobs and get certain pieces of work done. Therefore SF has benefits regarding the work but more importantly for the farmer and his family”

Rena Blake-Social Farmer

“It is really lovely to be able to share the space here in Barna with interesting people.  I really enjoy working with the two women who come for social farming. Their enthusiasm is electric and I learn as much from them as I hope they learn from me. They have a real gift for growing and their attention to detail is really notable.

I personally am quite dyslexic and this is taken me down other paths for work and education. I've been the outsider looking in on the mainstream. This is an opportunity for me to give back as I feel I have been very lucky in my life”

SICAP IRIS outcomes SICAP quantitative outcomes are captured on IRS. Below is a sample of this type of information, a graphic of the number and type if interventions by the DW in supporting social farming

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LECP Objectives

The project is also contiguous with the LECP objectives as per below

3.7.2 Ensure that people with disability can participate fully – Kerry Social Framing is a best practice example of this objective in practice. Participants sign up to go on the programme and are fully supported by their service provider to achieve this. The community, in this case local farmers and farm families, are open to this and fully supportive of the initiative. The farm upgrades ensure that the participants can participate fully in all activities.

Appendix 1 Disability Policies which SF is influenced by:

UNCRPD (2006)Last country in the EU and one of the last in the world to ratify (with optional protocol) in 2017

Towards 2016“An Ireland where people with disabilities have, to the greatest extent possible, the opportunity to live a full life with their families as part of the local community, free from discrimination.’ Introduced ‘life cycle’ approach.”

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Time to Move On from Congregated Settings: A Strategy for Community Inclusion (2011)Old institutions will be closed, and their residents progressed into accommodation in the community where they will receive individualised services.

New Directions: Personal Support Services for Adults with Disabilities (2012)Focuses on changing day services, to ensure they becomes more ‘flexible, responsive and person-centred’ 

Value for Money and Policy Review of Disability Services in Ireland (2012)‘A fundamental change in approach to the governance, funding and focus of Disability Services. Change in approach from group-based delivery towards a model of person-centred and individually chosen supports’ 

Appendix 2

Kerry Social Farming Working Group

NEWKD – SICAP and RSSSKDP – SICAP and RSSKerry County Council – LCDCHSE – New DirectionsKerry Parents and FriendsLocal Link Kerry

Kerry Down Syndrome AssociationSt John of Gods2 Social Farming Participant representativesParticipant family representatives3 host farmersCunamh Iveragh

Appendix 3 Glossary KSF –Kerry Social Farming NEWK –North East West Kerry NEWKD –North East West Kerry DevelopmentPWD –People with Disabilities

Appendix 4

Funding Supports

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Support for social farming in Ireland, including Kerry Social Farming, comes from the Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine (DAFM) through its Commission for Economic Development of Rural Areas (CEDRA) Rural Innovation and Development Fund.

KSF is also aligned with Kerry’s Local Economic & Community Plan and has representation through the LCDC and receives support through the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP).

HSE’s New Directions provides the framework for the governance, planning and implementation of KSF based on person-centeredness, community inclusion, active citizenship and quality.

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