County Council support to help most vulnerable
30 June 2011
County Council support to help most vulnerable
Edited by Andy Porter editor@wellbeingnorfolk.co.uk
More people in Norfolk are set to benefit from a project that sees the health of vulnerable people benefit from a structured program of farming–related activities on a ‘care farm’.
As a new national care farm organisation, Care Farm UK, launched at the Royal Norfolk Show, Norfolk County Council has pledged £30,000 of funding over the next two years, to promote the creation of more care farms in Norfolk, including on the County Farms Estate, and provide training and set standards.
Norfolk County Council created its first care farm in 2009 when it let Clinks Farm at Toft Monks to Doeke and Iris Dobma.
A care farm is defined as a farm that provides health, social or educational care services for one or a range of vulnerable groups of people. These include people with mental health needs, people suffering from mild to moderate depression, adults and children with learning disabilities, children with autism, those with a drug or alcohol addiction history, disaffected young people and adults, and people on probation.
Care farms provide a supervised, structured program of farming–related activities, including animal husbandry [livestock, small animals, poultry], crop and vegetable production, and woodland management.
This provides structured care, rehabilitation, therapeutic or educational program, for those attending.
Clinks Farm is run as a Social Enterprise with all its profits being reinvested in the care farm. The Toft Monks–based farm offers carers a day away from their caring to provide respite break and give an opportunity to mix and socialise with others and to develop their interests, skills and knowledge.
They also work with NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney and Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust to provide ‘farming on prescription’, where GPs are able to refer patients to the farm.
Edited by Andy Porter editor@wellbeingnorfolk.co.uk
More people in Norfolk are set to benefit from a project that sees the health of vulnerable people benefit from a structured program of farming–related activities on a ‘care farm’.
As a new national care farm organisation, Care Farm UK, launched at the Royal Norfolk Show, Norfolk County Council has pledged £30,000 of funding over the next two years, to promote the creation of more care farms in Norfolk, including on the County Farms Estate, and provide training and set standards.
Norfolk County Council created its first care farm in 2009 when it let Clinks Farm at Toft Monks to Doeke and Iris Dobma.
A care farm is defined as a farm that provides health, social or educational care services for one or a range of vulnerable groups of people. These include people with mental health needs, people suffering from mild to moderate depression, adults and children with learning disabilities, children with autism, those with a drug or alcohol addiction history, disaffected young people and adults, and people on probation.
Care farms provide a supervised, structured program of farming–related activities, including animal husbandry [livestock, small animals, poultry], crop and vegetable production, and woodland management.
This provides structured care, rehabilitation, therapeutic or educational program, for those attending.
Clinks Farm is run as a Social Enterprise with all its profits being reinvested in the care farm. The Toft Monks–based farm offers carers a day away from their caring to provide respite break and give an opportunity to mix and socialise with others and to develop their interests, skills and knowledge.
They also work with NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney and Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust to provide ‘farming on prescription’, where GPs are able to refer patients to the farm.
