Traction Engine Club of Ulster Charity Awards Night at Dunsilly Hotel, Antrim

Every year the TECU recognises the support given to the club by people who are not members, to remember events from the past year and present cheques to many charities that benefitted from the events.

Cheques were presented to The Children’s Hospice, McMillan Group, Cancer Research, PIPs, Turning Point and the Antrim Animal Sanctuary. The Neonatal Unit, Killymurris Presbyterian Church and MS Society received their cheques earlier in the year.

Many people received awards for services to the Traction Engine Club during 2024. These included Mr Darwin Gaston, who along with his father held an Open Night showcasing their incredible collection of farming equipment, especially David Brown Tractors. Rory Woolf also hosted an Open Night to demonstrate his collection of vintage tractors, some of which were shown in action.

Davy McKay was thanked for his work preparing growing and harvesting corn for the club so that a good stock of corn is available for demonstrations at future threshing events.

Robin Adair of HSS was commended for providing essential equipment to support our work. Safety barriers and portable toilets are essential for the safe running of vintage events.

The TECU Committee picked out two unsung heroes for their services to the vintage scene, firstly, over many, many years, Sid Bruce has provided an Ice Cream Van whenever requested, even in weather where ice cream sales were bound to be disappointing, always making a generous donation to the charity, come rain or shine. Secondly Matthew Warwick for his help in searching for new funding opportunities to meet the running costs of the events so that more funds can be released to support local charities that make differences to people’s lives.

Some of the Charity Awards were in dedication to committee members of the charity who passed away in the past year, Davy Percy, Bertie Hamilton and Robert McKibbin while the New Years Day Event at Dunsilly in 2026 will be in memory of John Bolton who passed away in December.

Next up for the TECU is their St Patrick’s Day Vintage Event at Raceview Mill, Broughshane, on March 17, 11am -3pm.