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Agricultural engineering students to plough through Ireland during charity tractor tour

Published
Tuesday 12 Mar 2019

A group of Myerscough College agricultural engineering students are undertaking a week-long tractor tour of Ireland to raise money for charity.

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Level 3 students and staff will drive two Myerscough tractors on their mammoth tour – a Fendt 716 and a 1963 Massey Ferguson 35X - across cities in both Northern and Southern Ireland, to raise money for Yellow Wellies – Farm Safety Foundation, a charity whose aim is to raise awareness of health and safety amongst young people working in agriculture.

The Yellow Wellies campaign aims to change attitudes towards farming safely in young farmers, and reduce injuries and fatalities.

The Myerscough group will first travel to Stranraer, in Scotland, and head over via ferry to Belfast early next month, with a packed itinerary taking in Monaghan, Ballinrobe, Galway, Limerick, Cork, Dungarvan, Carlow and Dublin.

The group will also visit major sector employers, including SlurryKat Engineering, Major Equipment, McHale Engineering, Dunlop and Keenan Systems.

Mark France, lecturer in agricultural engineering, has organised the tour, and says: ‘’As well as raising money for an important charity within the agriculture sector, the tour will also act as an ideal opportunity to showcase the range of courses in the sector to potential new students.

‘’It will also be a fantastic enrichment opportunity for our current learners to visit large employers within the industry to further their knowledge of the range of employment opportunities available with agricultural engineering.

‘’We are still on the lookout for more sponsors for the event, so any business who feels they would like to contribute to the tour, please contact us.’’

Myerscough College is grateful for the support and sponsorship offered to help facilitate the tour. This includes Browns Mitsubishi, who are providing a 7-seater towing vehicle; Arnold Clark, who are providing a 9-seater van; Dunlop Footwear, who have kindly donated twenty pairs of yellow wellies; Customized Workwear for their provision of fully embroidered polo shirts for the trip; and Harrison Oils, who are covering the fuel that will be used during the journey.

It’s not the first time that Myerscough’s agricultural engineering department has undertaken a major fundraising event. A few years ago, staff and students took the College’s Massey 35X tractor on a 900 mile drive from Land’s End to John O’Groats, raising thousands of pounds for charity in the process.

For more details of how to become a sponsor for the event, you can email Mark at MFrance@myerscough.ac.uk or follow them on their Facebook page HERE

by Dave Salmon

DSalmon@myerscough.ac.uk