Two charities have shared a £74,000 donation to help their work supporting the farming community, including one set up as a memorial to Louise Hartley (above), a Farmers Guardian journalist and Member of the Guild who lost her life to cancer in 2016 at the age of 24.
The donation to The Louise Hartley Memorial Fund (£50,000) and the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (£24,000) was made by JCB Chairman, Lord Bamford following the auction of a one-of-a-kind Loadall telescopic handler built by 68 JCB apprentices.
Long-standing customer Angus Wielkopoliski of Yorkshire Dairy Goats was the highest bidder for the machine in an online auction organised in partnership with Farmers Guardian.
Guild Member and FG features editor Danusia Osiowy (above left) co-ordinated the newspaper’s input and attended the presentation by Lord Bamford at JCB’s World Headquarters in Rocester, Staffordshire.
He said: “JCB’s apprentices worked as a team and did a wonderful job manufacturing this unique Loadall. We are indebted to Farmers Guardian for their great support in organising the auction and suggesting the Louise Hartley Memorial Fund and RABI as beneficiaries, and to Angus Wielkopoliski for digging deep to buy this unique JCB machine.”
Danusia (above left) and Louise Hartley’s dairy farming parents said the fund would help young people pursue their ambitions and dreams in the farming world.
Sarah and John Hartley said: “The £50,000 donation will enable the fund to award a significant number of bursaries and help many young people to progress in their farming careers, so we are very grateful to both JCB and Yorkshire Dairy Goats for their kindness and generosity.”
Paul Burrows, Chief Executive of RABI explained that the donation it received would be used to provide assistance to people in the agricultural industry with mental health problems.
