Farmers achieve great feats for charity in first half of 2024

With half of 2024 now complete, it is a good time to reflect on all of the incredible feats that farmers and the wider agricultural community have undertaken so far to raise money for deserving causes.

At Farmers Weekly, the charitable spirit has been infectious. Back in April, chief reporter Philip Case completed the London Marathon to raise money for the Farming Community Network.

To give an added incentive, Farmers Weekly editor Andrew Meredith pledged that, if Phil could raise more than £1,000, he would dye his hair blonde in a show of support.

Naturally, the team at Farmers Weekly and the farming community stepped up to make sure the funding target was achieved. Phil smashed his four-hour marathon target, raising £1,400 in the process. 

From the wider community, here are some of the other brilliant charitable achievements of farmers across the country.

See also: Farm Doctor: How to spot signs of poor mental health

Britain’s fastest wellies?

In May, agriculture student Gillies Boyd, from Argyll in the west of Scotland, completed the Edinburgh marathon to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support – and he did so by staying true to his farming roots, enduring the 26 miles in a pair of wellies.

It took 20-year-old Gillies just over six hours, and he successfully raised more than £1,000 for the deserving charity. “I’ve been dubbed ‘The Wellyman’ by all the marathon supporters.”

Prior to the big race, Gillies completed a series of shorter practice runs in his wellies, which he juggled alongside exam revision for his studies at Scotland’s Rural College. 

He said his footwear choice didn’t come without its own set of challenges, telling Farmers Weekly after the race: “I’m certainly feeling the pain – I’m covered in blisters and cuts!”

After the success of his first marathon, he plans to do more charity welly-running in the future.

The cycling farmer and his forager

Somerset farmer Nick Bragg, from Frogmary Green Farm, undertook an ambitious 1,000-mile cycle ride across the country at the end of May.

However, Nick wasn’t alone on this journey. He was joined by a unique support vehicle – his Krone BiG X 1180 Forage Harvester.

With the support of Krone, Nick and a small team of cyclists embarked on the route to raise funds for the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (Rabi), setting off from the Northumberland Show on Saturday 25 May.

“It was as much about raising awareness as it was money. So we made as many stops as we could to give awareness.”

Across the 10 days, the route included stops at the Suffolk Show, farm shops and machinery dealerships across the country, before concluding at the Royal Cornwall Show.

“We also stopped at Goodwood racetrack, and took the forager around the circuit at a rather slow pace.”

Though a keen cyclist, Nick said the 1,000-mile challenge was tough at times, with some really wet and cold days.

“But a challenge needs to be that way. My pain is short lived, but for those we are potentially helping, their pain could be totally different and longer lasting – so that’s what I focused on to get through the tough times.”

He has almost reached his £10,000 fundraising goal, so any final donations to help the team reach their target can be made at GoFund Me.

The farmers who rowed the Atlantic

On Sunday 25 February, Midlands turkey farmer Rod Adlington and arable farmer Guy Minshull completed their 3,200-mile trans-Atlantic row.

The raised money for cancer charity Get A-Head and for Meningitis Now, in memory of Rod’s young son Barney, who sadly succumbed to the disease as a toddler. 

The pair, together with Lancashire vet Anna Williams and serving paratrooper Alex Perry, made up the crew known as The Brightsides.

They completed the mammoth two-month row, sustained by dried protein rations and desalinated sea water.

So far, the group has raised an incredible sum of more than £140,000 for its chosen charities, and donations can still be made via its website.

The Isle of Wight sheepdog trial

On the Isle of Wight, a group of farmers, local producers, and business owners have launched a successful sheepdog trial to raise funds for charity.

The brainchild of regular sheepdog trainer Ian Wheeler, the third annual trial took place this year on 1 and 2 June – raising more than £17,000 for the island’s Earl Mountbatten Hospice.

Ian established a team of five volunteers to help run the trial, including farmer Angus Baird, who provides all of the sheep, neighbouring farmer Matt Legge, local business owners Trevor Cooke and Vicky Calder, and Louise Hart, who runs the catering.

“We had more than 50 competitors and dogs from all over the UK giving a superb demonstration of rural expertise,” said Louise. “The event is in its infancy, yet it attracted more than 3,500 people.”

Crowds flocked to watch the trials, bringing picnics and their families, and enjoying local produce from a number of vendors.

By popular demand, the dates for the 2025 trial have already been scheduled for 7 and 8 June.

Raising funds for mental health

Beef and sheep farmer Rhys Griffith, from north Wales, has recently completed a 326-mile cycle from Barmouth to Great Yarmouth to raise funds for two deserving charities – the DPJ Foundation and the Shire Horse Society.

When he’s not looking after his Simmental-cross suckler herd and his sheep, 33-year-old Rhys runs a diversification – the Trem y Wyddfa stud.

Passionate about shire horses and raising their profile to preserve the breed, Rhys has up to five foals born annually on the farm, and is a life member of the Shire Horse Society. 

This year, to mark Mental Health Week in May, Rhys, accompanied by a small team of other cyclists, embarked on their five-day coast-to-coast journey.

“There were eight riders in total from across the country, and all of us have strong links to agriculture, with most of us involved with farming daily.”

Stressing the importance of supporting the work of charities such as the DPJ Foundation, Rhys said: “We all understand and were keen to make a difference to other people’s lives. You truly never know who you can save.

“We also have a passion for shire horses, which we want to raise the profile for, having only 236 foals born in the UK last year.”

The group has been nicknamed “The Shire Cyclepaths”, and together it has smashed its fundraising target of £10,000, having so far raised £17,740 to be split between the charities.

The fundraiser is still open for donations, and can be accessed via JustGiving.

Around the coast in a JCB 

One of the most recent charity initiatives was undertaken this month, when a team of 14, led by Lincolnshire farmers James Caswell and Taron Lee, drove a JCB Fastrac around the coast of Britain to raise money for the Farm Safety Foundation’s Mind Your Head campaign.

Starting and finishing at Cleethorpes seafront, the team drove for about 16 hours a day, for seven days, clocking up 3,524 miles.

So far they have raised more than £10,000 for the charity, while raising awareness of mental health issues in agriculture in the process.

Taron said the highlight was the response from the general public. “We had people coming out to see us.

At one point we parked on Cromer beach in Norfolk and the fishermen came over to give money. Northumberland Young Farmers did a barbeque for us. It was fantastic.”

And the low points? “There weren’t any really, apart from perhaps the stress of putting it all together and the logistics.”

Donate to their JustGiving page.