Ploughing ahead for good causes – £7000 charity cheques handed over by Caithness tractor club

Members of the Caithness Vintage Tractor and Machinery Club (CVTMC) handed over two charity cheques totalling £7000 to local good causes at the Norseman Hotel in Wick.

Brian Polson, vice chairman of the CVTMC, said that the money came from various events the club held over the past year including raffles, charity auctions and ploughing matches.

Andrew Mackay, club chairman, had hosted last year's ploughing match at his West Greenland farm and handed over a cheque for £6000 to Caithness General Hospital Renal Unit (CGHRU). "My brother had a kidney transplant around 15 months ago. Generally, the family that hosts the ploughing match gets to decide where the money goes so that's what we wanted."

Andrew lamented last year's unseasonal weather which made the ploughing match at his farm a tough call with high winds and hailstones pelting the competitors. "It was a hellish day but the boys stuck in and we got on with it. We had a charity auction in the shed afterwards and raised a phenomenal amount."

Bruce Honeyman is charge nurse from CGHRU and accepted the cheque on behalf of the Wick hospital. "We're just about to renovate the area where our renal unit is located," he said.

"Obviously, the NHS will pay for all the essentials but not so much the luxuries that make the time the patients stay in the unit nicer. They spend around four hours for a treatment and come in three times a week – a minimum of 12 hours a week, not including their travel – and they're doing that 52 weeks a year.

"Unless they have a kidney transplant, they're on dialysis week in, week out and sometimes for 20 years or more. So we just want to make their time in the hospital as comfortable and relaxing as possible and use some of the money for that."

Katy Malcolm is a transport coordinator with Caithness Rural Transport (CRT) and – along with driver Roy Majilton – received a cheque on behalf of the charity to the tune of £1000 from the club's vice chairman. She said: "We're partially funded by Highland Council but we need to raise funds to keep costs low for the people that use our services.Wheelchair users, people with walking aids and people who live in rural areas would it find it more difficult to get out and about without us."

Secretary and treasurer of the CVTMC, Liz Hewitson, said: "We had a raffle and a very successful charity auction, to which many local individuals and firms donated and was carried out by Ian Macleay.

"The donation to CRT was from a 200 club draw held throughout the year, donations, a Caithness place names quiz compiled by Derek Douglas and our fundraiser at the County Show."

This is the tractor club's 20th year and over those years it has given almost £55,000 to local charities.

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