Couple raise £1,000 for Cancer Research by completing 200 laps of their garden – in a child's toy tractor

A Harleston couple squeezed themselves on to a toddler’s toy tractor to complete 200 laps of their patio, raising more than £1,000 for breast cancer research in the process.

Meryl and Mark Raines kitted themselves out in all-pink as they circled their patio in their two-year-old son’s £90 John Deeree tractor, in a nod to the Pink Ladies Tractor Road Run – an annual event where more than 100 women form a tractor convoy through the Norfolk countryside – which has been cancelled this year due to the pandemic.

The pair managed to raise an impressive £1,015 for Cancer Research UK’s breast cancer appeal – almost double their intended target.

Mrs Raines, whose mother, Janet Keeble, was diagnosed with breast cancer before dying in 2013, aged 63, said: “The tractor run is a huge community thing – there’s so many people that come out to support it every year.

“Over the years, they have raised more than £600,000, and this year they were really hoping to get to the £750,000 mark. Seeing as it was cancelled, they asked if people could try to find other ways to raise money.

“It was Mark who suggested we do something on our children’s tractor. He said it jokingly, but I thought ‘sure, let’s do it’.

The pair, from Frere Road, donned pink dresses and wigs, while the tractor – which is built for two to five year olds – was decked out in pink decorations, in keeping with the rules of the Pink Tractor Road Run.

“Because the tractor run is for women only, each year Mark has been trying to do it in drag, and I said this is your chance,” said Mrs Raines.

The fundraiser proved to be an entire family effort, with six-year-old Niamh keeping count of the laps, while two-year-old Cameron offered some not-so-welcome added weight.

“Niamh kept count, while Cameron wanted to get in the trailer, so we attached it to the back and he sat in it for some of the laps,” added Mrs Raines.

“Riding that tractor puts your body in a really unnatural position, because you have to put your legs up, and they’re definitely a bit stiff now.”

You can still donate to Mr and Mrs Raines' fundraiser by clicking here.