EXCLUSIVE by John Prince
It was a day to remember for a charity fundraiser who got a huge surprise last weekend, as a convoy of 15 tractors rolled into town to give him a big thank you for his hard work.
For the past decade, 89-year-old Paul Harper from Hornsea has been raising money for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance by displaying his collection of handmade wooden tractors outside the Floral Hall. So far, he has raised more than £30,000.
His wife Monica encouraged him to start raising money after they both witnessed the air ambulance attending a serious road collision.
Paul is now slowly losing his eyesight yet still turns up nearly every Sunday at the Hall, rain or shine.
He has been featured in the Gazette a number of times, so we mentioned Paul’s achievement to the organisers of the Leven Tractor Run to see if they would like to do something.
They said yes and arranged a run out to Hornsea to meet him and give him a special day in recognition of his fundraising.
Coming from a farming family, Paul has been around tractors all his life and has owned a number himself, learning to drive one when he was just five years old.
He knew nothing of what was going on beforehand, so came to the Floral Hall with some of his models thinking that the air ambulance helicopter was coming!
Instead, much to his and Monica’s delight, he was greeted by a long line of spectacular tractors which came in and parked up along the Promenade in his honour.
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All the drivers had come to see Paul’s models as well as congratulate him and spent a couple of hours telling stories and comparing notes about the machines – some of which, by chance, were the exact same models as Paul’s wooden ones.
Rob Scott from Yorkshire Air Ambulance had also come down to present Paul with a unique one-off scale replica of one of the charity’s new five blade helicopters, which was given to the YAA by manufacturers Airbus. He also gave Paul a new cap to replace his old one.
Rob said: “Paul is phenomenal. He’s raised over thirty grand for us. We thought he was going to have to pack up a few years ago when his eyesight went, but he’s out here every time he can get out.
“We get no government funding whatsoever, and everything is paid for by the good people of Yorkshire.
“The paramedics are seconded to us from the NHS, but everything else – the doctors, the pilots, the helicopters – is all paid for by money raised.
“It’s about five grand a mission, and that’s including your doctors and your crash team at the hospitals and the major trauma centres where they fly to.
“There’s going to be about 10 or 15 people there waiting for the helicopter to land, and the trauma team working to take over the care of the patient.
“A massive thank you to everybody that supports us.”
Deputy mayor Cllr Nick Cox said how proud he was of the charity work that goes on in Hornsea by so many residents.
Cllr Cox said: “We’ve got a fantastic community in Hornsea. There are so many voluntary groups – maybe not as high profile as the air ambulance – but there are so many volunteers here and they all do a fantastic job.
“We should be really proud of what we have.
“A lot of people like Paul go under the radar, so these kinds of things need to be recognised.
“A lot of the biggest accidents occur in farming, and the air ambulance is obviously used due to the location of farms. Naturally they have to be.
“It would be quite interesting to see about road traffic collisions on motorways and minor roads, as the fastest way of getting people to hospital is by air ambulance. As a charity it’s all funded by the community.
“We need the air ambulance, so what Paul’s done is amazing.”
Chris Swift from International Harvester who are based in Thorne near Doncaster where Paul worked for many years, praised him for how accurate the models are.
“Paul’s models are really realistic and making them out of wood is brilliant.
“The real tractors can cost up to £100,000 brand new, and in the factory it probably takes a couple of hours to assemble them. Paul said his take about two weeks.
“I came across him about four years ago when he was at Hornsea bike show and he had a couple of International tractors. He’s a grand chap.”
Paul Wildbore from Leven Tractor Run was instrumental in getting all the drivers together. They met up at the Three Ridings Coffee shop in Leven an hour before making their way into Hornsea.
He said: “One or two lads know him and they thought what a great idea it was to come and meet him and see his models. The majority of his models are these tractors that are here today.
“It’s fantastic to see them up close. It took about a week to arrange. A bit of ringing round people. I don’t think anybody said no.
“They knew of him and thought ‘he deserves it’. There are 15 tractors and they’ve fitted on the Promenade perfectly. It’s the right amount.
“We’ve had a nice little scenic run here, and we’ll have one on the way back.”
Man-of-the-hour Paul, who couldn’t stop smiling on the day, said: “I’m shocked. I never expected this. It was a really good surprise.
“They’ve been asking me all about when I worked at International Harvesters and Case and such like, and tractors.
“Tractors have been my life. Before I moved to Hornsea I had a small holding in Sandtoft near Epworth. I had four tractors there.
“I managed to get Monica to come down. She struggled a bit but it makes me feel great.
“It’s part of my life now is collecting for the air ambulance. There are people who come regularly to see me. There’s a lady who is 94-years old who always gives me a little wave.
“It’s been lovely.”
Before the drivers left, Monica Harper said that Paul is leaving all his model tractors to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance in his will.
She said: “He’ll never sell them. He’s had offers and they’re probably worth a few thousand quid. All those tractors and the handmade stuff will go to the air ambulance. They’re theirs.
“I don’t tell him what to do. I don’t dictate what he should do. As long as he’s happy I feel great.”
(Thank you to Monica who bought all the drivers a brew from the Floral Hall café afterwards, and to both Monica and Paul for a lovely thank card and present for our reporter.)
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The Leven Tractor Run organisers have said that the amount of money raised from this year’s event has reached £6,700.
It will go towards the PolG Foundation and local boy Charlie Dodds who is living with the condition.
More than 100 tractors took part in the 33-mile-long run around 14 villages. Every year they pick a different charity to raise money for.
Organisers would like to thank Bert’s in Brandesburton, Robinson the Builders’ Merchant Ltd and Charters Butchers and Deli for their support.
