A young farmer from Hertfordshire has already raised more than £13,000 ahead of running the Virgin Money London Marathon for Alzheimer’s Research UK, in honour of her late grandad.
Becky Bone has smashed her original target of £6,000 after holding a ‘tractor run’ from Clements Farm in Hertford, her family’s farm business.
The tractor drivers went in convoy through the middle of Welwyn Garden City, covering a varied route through rural villages, with some giving lifts to passengers, and cars following behind for support.
The tractors were all decorated differently, and adorned bows made by Becky’s grandma to display Alzheimer’s Research UK’s colours – orange, blue and purple.
Along the route the tractors stopped at different venues including the local pub, where bacon rolls and lamb burgers were offered as part of the ticket price and a raffle was held.
Becky decided to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK after her grandfather Alan Bone passed away with dementia at the age of 75 in November 2012.
Alan founded the family’s farm in 1957 and dedicated his life to making it successful, along with his wife Audrey Bone, 80.
He lived on the farm after his diagnosis with the help of carers but in the last few months of his life had to move to a care home where he sadly passed away.
Becky’s father and uncle have continued to run the farm since, with Becky joining the business three years ago, but Becky says she misses having her grandad around.
The 25-year-old said: “My grandad was a first generation farmer, and a builder before that. He was one of the most hard-working men I knew.
“The farm was born as a dairy farm but in the 1980s when the milk lakes happened the dairy was sold and my grandad went into arable farming.
“I’ve completed an engineering degree at Loughborough University and had a placement with Pepsi for a year, but my heart was at home working on the farm.
“I loved my grandad to pieces and I think the tractor run was a touching tribute to him. He was well-known and liked in the local area so everyone got on board.
“I hope I can do him proud by running the London Marathon and I’m grateful for all the support which has helped me raise over £13,000 for Alzheimer’s Research UK as funding into dementia is desperately needed.”
Kenneth Foreman, Sporting Events Manager at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “We can’t thank Becky enough for her tremendous fundraising efforts for Alzheimer’s Research UK, it must’ve been a really fun day for everyone riding on the tractors.
“At the moment there are 850,000 people across the UK living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, including more than 14,000 in Hertfordshire.
“We rely on public donations and it’s thanks to people like Becky that we can help provide crucial resources for our scientists and fund pioneering research, driving the next breakthrough.”
To donate to Becky’s fundraising page ahead of the race on Sunday 24 April go to her funding page here.
