The Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET) has taken to the road to demonstrate the might of its volunteer force as it aims to deliver its charitable remit to connect children with the countryside.

Ten mighty tractors driven by volunteer farmers made tracks to every primary school in the Scottish Borders, covering hundreds of miles and visiting over 4,000 school children.

“How tall is the tractor?”, “How big is the engine?” and “How fast does it go?” were just some of the questions that the 30 strong volunteer group grappled with as the eager students filled their boots with farming facts.

Pupils from Melrose Primary loved the big John Deere tractor!

Joinng the tractor tour was MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, Calum Kerr, who was at Burgh Primary School. He said, “This was an excellent initiative to increase everyone’s awareness of country life. Agriculture and rural industries play such a huge part in the economy of the Scottish Borders and the task of getting young people to stay in rural areas and work our rural economy is vital. So congratulations to RHET for all their efforts in taking this important task forward.”

And to increase funds, recipes collected from schools during the tour will feature in a recipe book brimming with local ingredients and including recopies from celebrity chefs such as Ally McGrath, from Osso Restaurant.  The book will be sold to raise money for RHET in May from the charity’s website and at local agricultural shows.

The event was organised by RHET to increase its profile in the Scottish Borders and to make schools aware of the range of free services the non-profit, educational charity provides in the area such as free farm visits for pupils , classroom talks by local farmers, teaching resources and teacher training.