Vintage tractor run raises money for Parkinsons

The Chepstow Vintage Club tractor run was set up in memory of those who have been impacted by Parkinsons locally within the agricultural community.

Rachael Brown
clock • 2 min read
Vintage tractor run raises money for Parkinsons

The Chepstow Vintage Club tractor run was set up in memory of those who have been impacted by Parkinsons locally within the agricultural community.

The Chepstow Vintage Club tractor run fundraised over 1,000 for Parkinsons UK Cymru.

People in the agricultural community chose the charity as there was a number of people living local that had been impacted by the illness.

The route started at Howick Farm, the home of farmer Colin Jenkins. Mr Jenkins passed away last year from Parkinsons.

The convoy was made up of 40 tractors and four Land Rovers.

Justin Cooke, the director of the Chepstow Vintage Club, helped organise the event. His father, Graham Cooke was a farmer locally and passed away at 80 years old, after living with the condition for almost 7 years.

There are over forty symptoms of Parkinsons. But the 3 main symptoms of Parkinsons are a tremor (shaking), slowness of movement and rigidity (muscle stiffness).

Justin, from Chepstow, who still helps out on the family farm, said:

My father passed away in 2017, and he had Parkinsons. It is something thats impacted many people in the local agricultural community. My father was a very quiet man and not a complainer so he possibly had it a long time before he was diagnosed.

If you were on the farm on the weekend working with him, and it was time for him to take his medication, he was poorly for a couple of hours before it wore off and he could come back outside and join in the fun of doing something or doing some work around the farm or whatever.

There needs to be as much research as possible to look into it. We want to fund more research into the condition, he said.

Stephen Lewis, Treasurer of the Chepstow and District Parkinsons Support Group, who has been involved with the group since 2008, and whose wife Kate Lewis passed away with the condition aged 79, said: We need to try to raise the profile, raise money for more research and to support local Parkinsons groups.

This tractor run is something a little bit different and a fun way to raise money for the charity, he said.

/

More on Farm Life

Calls for gun law rethink following farmer's death

Calls for gun law rethink following farmer's death

'Gaps' in legislation could lead to more people taking their own lives, warns coroner

Nick Irving
clock 19 February 2026 • 2 min read
Direct selling boosts growth for Cambridgeshire mixed livestock farm

Direct selling boosts growth for Cambridgeshire mixed livestock farm

Bramblebee Farms has developed its wide range of livestock enterprises in response to customer demand

Wendy Short
clock 19 February 2026 • 7 min read
2001 UK foot-and-mouth outbreak - 25 years on: "Infectious diseases do not respect borders or species barriers, and we ignore this at our peril"

2001 UK foot-and-mouth outbreak - 25 years on: "Infectious diseases do not respect borders or species barriers, and we ignore this at our peril"

Before his career in politics, Epping Forest MP Dr Neil Hudson was a veterinary inspector who was on the frontline of the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001. Dr Hudson remembers the once bustling farms which became empty, the impact it had on the sector's mental health, and why the current Government should never take the UK's national biosecurity for granted

Dr Neil Hudson
clock 18 February 2026 • 3 min read