Castle Vintage Club, based in Taghmon, raised €24,470 recently for the Richmond Ward at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin. The club was founded in 2006, and the total was raised when the club attended a three-day tractor run in Cork.

“We do tractor runs every year,” says club Chairman Pat Monaghan. “It’s been going for nearly 20 years, and we’ve raised well in excess of €300,000. It’s a mix of socialising and fundraising. We’ve been in Donegal, Galway and the Ring of Kerry on tractors.

“We go away every May bank holiday weekend, we go away for three days. We stayed down in Clonakilty this year and toured around the area.”

The club has 80 enthusiastic members. Each with their own unique tractor preference. “It would be all Fords that I have,” he says.

“We fundraised this year for the Richmond Ward, in memory of a club member that passed away last year. She was in Beaumont Hospital, that is why we gave them the money.”

The club was thrilled to be able to hand over €24,000 to the Chief Executive Officer of the Beaumont Hospital Foundation, Fiachra O’Riordan in Cuckoos Corner on Saturday.

“The money was raised through bucket collections on the day and sponsorship.

“Going to Cork, we loaded up six lorries and 24 tractors and left Taghmon on Friday morning, arriving in Bandon. We drove from Bandon into Clonakilty.

“On the Saturday we drove down to Skibbereen and back to the Clonakilty, and to Kinsale on the Sunday.”

The club’s next fundraiser will take place on October 5. It’ll start from the Community Centre in Taghmon. All funds raised from that will go to local charities and groups.

“There is a social aspect to it as well. People get out and about. From Easter onwards, there is a run nearly every second weekend.”

In Wexford alone, there are 10 or 15 clubs. “We have plenty of members in the club that aren’t farmers at all, you don’t even need a tractor. They just come along to help out.”