Making Tracks Towards 'IT know-how'

27/10/04

OVER 40 members of the North Antrim farming community were recently awarded presentation certificates for the successful completion of the Agri-IT programme at a reception in the Lissanure Castle, Loughgiel. 

The Agri-IT programme provides farming families in the North Antrim area with access to tailored ICT training, one to one mentoring support and financial assistance up to £400 to purchase relevant hard-ware/ software. Speakers at the reception included Jane Tayfor from DARD (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development); Ballymoney District Mayor Cecil Cousley, Bobby Farren, Project Manager and keynote speaker Richard Wright, BBC Agricultural Correspondent. Jane Taylor, DARD said; "The uptake of this programme has been very encouraging with to date almost 3000 farm family members across the province completing the training.  "The EU Peace II funding supporting the programme has successfully facilitated members of local communities to enjoy learning together and working      together towards a common goal of improving their farm businesses."

Yvonne Hannah completed the Agri-IT programme at Acorn, the Business Centre, Ballymoney She said: "The coarse has provided me with an excellent opportunity to gain valuable skills in IT that I can use for farm business. The financial assistance available and the highly trained tutors have enabled me to put my new skills into practice. It was a very worthwhile experience".

A further 40 course participants will receive their awards at a ceremony in the Adair Arms Hotel, Ballymena on Wednesday, October 27.

Louise Heaney, TIME Associates, Human Resource Development Consultants, is responsible for the evaluation of the   Agri-IT   programme.   She   has reported an extremely high level of satisfaction with the programme to date and a marked contribution to the participants competence in using IT on the farm. She added: "Our survey of participants has revealed that 90 of participants rated the programme as excellent ' and 95 agreed that what they had learnt will contribute to their competence in using ICT on the farm".

Since the programme was launched in March last year over 340 farmers or members of their families have successfully completed the programme  across, the Council areas of Lame, Ballymena, Moyle and Ballymoney.  

The programme is funded through DARD by the EU Programme for     Peace      & Reconciliation in N1 and the Border Region of Northern Ireland Measure 1.6 Training for Farmers.

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