£20k apiece for Christmas tractor run charities

March 13, 2024 at 3:50 pm

The cheques were handed over at Highland Park distillery today (Wednesday, March 13). From the left, Jemma Craigie (assistant secretary of Orkney Agricultural Society), Jordan Drever (treasurer of OAS), Graham Nicholson (tractor run organiser), Denise Cursiter (Home Start), Steven Sinclair (tractor run organiser), Kevin Firth (Highland Park), Liam Muir (president of OAS), Anna Fraser (OAS secretary), William Neish (deputy chair of Crossroads), Arlene Montgomery (registered manager of Crossroads), Sheila Shearer (acting assistant manager of Crossroads). (ORKNEY PHOTOGRAPHIC)

Two charities have gotten major funding boosts of over £20,000 apiece, thanks to the Orkney Christmas Tractor Run 2023.

Home Start Orkney and Crossroads Care Orkney were the two local charities picked to benefit from the latest festive fundraiser put on by the county’s farmers.

The donations and Gift Aid raised the phenomenal sum £26,143, but both the organisers and charities were in for a pleasant surprise — a boost of £15,000 from Highland Park, through the Robertson Trust’s Giving More match funding scheme.

Organised by farmers Steven Sinclair from Sandwick and Graham Nicholson from South Ronaldsay, the Orkney Christmas Tractor Run 2023 brought the festive spirit to Kirkwall once again, as spectators lined the streets to watch the 162-strong convoy of lit-up vehicles.

With the first tractor run in 2021 raising £55,000 and the second raising £28,000, the organisers have well and truly smashed their target of taking in £100,000 for Orkney charities in three years.