Show off your biceps for charity

The strongman competition at the Harcourt’s tent has pulled in some big crowds.

English funny men, Brett Tutheridge and John Martin were the main attractions, enticing people to donate money and win a chance to hit the golden sledgehammer.

Brett and John have been working with Harcourts for three years now and each year come up with something a bit different.

“It’s all about raising awareness of the charity and having a bit of fun and interacting with guests that have come across to the Fieldays and just making it special, which is what the Fieldays is all about,” says Brett.

National rural manager for Harcourts, Jim Davis, says the money donated will go to the Harcourts Foundation.

“It’s a charitable trust organisation that’s been set up.

“People and organisations from around New Zealand can log onto the Harcourts website and apply for funds.”

They grant funds every quarter to selected charities.

“In the last 13 or 14 months we have raised and donated back $1.3 million into charities around New Zealand.

“Some of it is collected at events like this and some of it is off the top donations that our offices contribute.”

Jim says because it is a charitable trust there are rules and criteria.

“When there’s money to be donated in the Waikato region, the local business owners can look at the charities and they can say we want to give so much to this person and so much to that charitable trust, so much here, so much there.

“Because we’re Australasian wide the foundation donated $80,000 to the Victorian bush fires two years ago and they have put about $75,000 into the earthquake appeals in Christchurch, as well as the smaller charities and individuals who have received grants over the last couple of years.”