Fun On The Farm

A giant inflatable tractor will take centre stage at a ‘Fun on the Farm’ event at The Galway Plaza this weekend. The event will showcase a fun and safe approach to farming for children of all ages where they will learn about many aspects of farm safety from animals to tractors. Interactive workshops, funshops, a rolly tractors track, and a Bruder inflatable tractor will be the order of the day.

This event is in conjunction with the Galway IFA, AgriKids and Banaghan’s and aims to highlight and promote the importance of safety on the farm. Fun on the Farm will take place in the on the 1st floor of The Galway Plaza on Sunday, October 28th from 12pm-6pm and is free of charge.

AgriKids is a multi-award winning farm safety educational platform for children. It was founded in 2015 with the ethos that encourages positive engagement and empowers children to become farm safety ambassadors. Its founder, Alma Jordan, was hugely affected by the surge in farm deaths in 2014. Alma set out to initiate a change in culture within the farming and rural communities and founded AgriKids. “I am very excited for the opportunity to be bringing AgriKids to the Fun on the Farm event at The Galway Plaza. It is an ideal opportunity for us to promote the farm through play and fun while also using the opportunity to proactively remind children and adults about being farm safe when in a real farm situation,” Alma said. “It is so important that events such as these include the message of farm safety, they help make our attitudes and behaviours instinctively safer, which will ultimately lead to a safer future for our farmers and future farmers. On the day I will be holding interactive PlayShops where children will learn about many aspects of farm safety from animals to tractors. Worksheets and colouring activities will also feature on the day.”

Anne Mitchell of Galway IFA said “We are losing the battle on farm safety but we will win the war. Over the past decade we have sadly lost 210 people to farm fatalities of which 23 were children. Last year we lost 24 people and that’s a family member every 14 days. The elderly and children are the most at risk group and as farmers we need to be more safety aware and encourage safety practices on our farms. A farm is a wonderful place for children to grow up on or visit so let’s all work together and farm safely,” she said.