Tartan JCB leads MND charity tractor run

Scottish farmer Sandy Duffus, who was diagnosed with MND earlier this year, will be behind the wheel of the tractor.

He will be driving 'Doddie the iCON', named in honour of Scottish rugby union player Doddie Weir, who passed away from MND in 2022.

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Each year, approximately 1,100 people in the UK are diagnosed with the disease, with up to 5,000 UK adults affected at any given time.

As part of the fundraiser, tractors will depart from the Haughs in Turriff at 6:30pm on August 14, traveling through Rothienorman and concluding at Thainstone Mart in Inverurie.

The initiative is spearheaded by Annie Kenyon Architects and Agricultural Machinery Specialists CC Powell, who recently raised over £20,000 for My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, a charity established by Doddie Weir.

The JCB Fastrac 4220 iCon, featuring Doddie’s own tartan livery, was created to boost fundraising and awareness for the charity.

Doddie, who passed away at the age of 52, founded the charity to fund research with the vision of ‘A world free of MND’ and has raised over £11 million to date.

Despite the foundation's progress, a cure for this devastating disease remains elusive due to insufficient funding.

Annie Kenyon said: “We are absolutely thrilled that Sandy will be leading the tractor run next week – whilst ticking another wish off his bucket list.

"Sandy's daughter, Kayleigh was determined to promote the foundation even further and contacted me to organise the tractor convoy to allow local farmers and businesses to show our support to Sandy and his family, and of course raise as much money as we can for the foundation.”

To support the charity or participate in the tractor run, donations of a minimum of £20 can be made to the fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/page/sandyduffustractorrun