Established in 2013 and operating social farms since 2014, Kerry Social Farming (KSF) was founded on principles of equality, social inclusion, voluntary community development and collaboration. It is currently one of only two projects operating a voluntary model of social farming in Ireland, meaning that farmers are not paid for their time with participants. It is a locally-led, community-based, shared service that provides farming and social inclusion opportunities to people with intellectual and physical disabilities, acquired brain injuries and those accessing mental health services, all within local communities.
As of June 2024, we support 59 participants on 39 host farms across Kerry and we are keen to recruit new host farmers. If you think you might be interested, please get in touch – we’ll be happy to tell you more about what’s involved!
To find out more about our work, head over to our website www.kerrysocialfarming.ie and have a look at our videos and information.
Congratulations to our host farmers who were honoured in the 2023 Radio Kerry/FEXCO Kerry Heroes Awards and were interviewed live on Radio Kerry on 21st December 2023.
You can watch the interview here Kerry Social Farming Project | Kerry Heroes 2023
SKDP is part of a pan-European Erasmus+ Research project called FarmElder (which also operates in Belgium, Germany, Portugal and Slovenia) examining how social farming is a viable option for older people across Europe. Our KSF team is sharing our experience and helping develop training modules for those involved in providing social farming for older people. The project team visited Kerry in May 2023. Find out more about FarmElder on their website www.farmelder.eu
Here’s our Newsletter for July 2023
July 2023 News Letter (kerrysocialfarming.ie)
To learn more about KSF contact
SKDP Rural Development Manager Joseph McCrohan 087 284 9165
or
KSF facilitator Evelyn O’Connell 087 428 7176
or
KSF facilitator John Lynch 087 443 5870
or email info@kerrysocialfarming.ie
