Crowds cheer Brockenhurst Young Farmers tractor run

HUNDREDS of spectators lined a 26-mile New Forest route to cheer on a New Year’s Eve tractor run organised by the Brockenhurst Young Farmers Club.

The event, which was the first of its kind organised by the youth organisation, involved 114 tractors and 4x4s to raise more than £1,600 for the Farm Safety Foundation.

The parade began at the New Park showground in Brockenhurst before proceeding to Balmer Lawn Road, Hatchet Pond and Beaulieu Aerodrome before processing down Lymington high street and through Pennington, Sway and Wootton before returning to Brockenhurst.

Brockenhurst Young Farmers chair Samantha Gates said: “We were delighted to have organised such a successful event in aid of the Farm Safety Foundation.

“It was our biggest event of 2021 for our club and was such a joy having the local community come to their doorsteps to watch us pass and support this event and the farming community.

“We initially thought we would have 30-40 vehicles taking part, so with a total of 114 tractors and 4x4s we really did close the year with a bang and this success made all the paperwork and organising totally worth it.”

She added: “We chose the Farm Safety Foundation as our charity because many of our members and their families have seen first-hand how easy it is to have a serious incident on a farm and we feel very passionately about the need to educate the next generation of farmers to be safe on farms.

“We would love to thank New Park Farm for kindly allowing us to use their field as a start and finish meeting place and to Hel’s Kitchen for keeping us fed and to the local community for being patient and joining us in the dreary weather, we hope we helped lift the spirit.”

The Farm Safety Foundation, or Yellow Wellies as it is also known, works to raise awareness of farm safety and mental wellbeing among young farmers aged 16-40.

Through its education programme, research and awareness campaigns such as Farm Safety Week and Mind Your Head, the foundation aims to challenge the risk-taking behaviours that give farming the poorest safety record of any occupation in the UK.

Brockenhurst Young Farmers welcomes new members aged 10-28.

Sam added: “We meet in Tiptoe for regular evenings and activities – you don’t even need a pair of wellies to join us, just a love for the outdoors and be eager to learn new things.”

For more information email brock.hantsyfc@gmail.com or contact Sam on 07597 382652.