Five men, five vintage tractors, five hundred miles, Ballycastle to Ballycastle - they did it!

That was the incredible task set by five men from the Mid Ulster and Causeway Coast area to raise funds for mental health charity The Olive Branch.

Ian and Jonathan Calderwood (Portglenone), Sammy and Mark Gault (Ballymoney) and Mark Getty (Upperlands) set off fom Ballycastle in County Antrim on their five vintage tractors on Thursday, July 25.

They then travelled to Ballycastle in County Down, then onwards to Ballycastle in County Mayo before returning to the north coast via Ballycastle in County Derry/Londonderry and finishing back in Ballycastle on the Causeway Coast on Saturday, July 27.

Their target was to raise £5,000 for the Olive Branch charity whose aim is to give immediate access to a mental health counselling service for those suffering from mental health issues.

With Sammy on the Zetor and the others on four Fordson Majors, they successfully completed the challenge with a few delays and not much sleep.

In a post on the event’s Facebook page The Big Vintage Tractor Drive, they wrote: “Now that the we’ve had a sleep and the engine oils have cooled down again, we would like to thank everybody that donated and sponsored us on the 500 mile journey.

"The support we received was brilliant and most importantly we beat our £5,000 money target, we are unsure of our final amount yet due to still receiving donations but we are in preparation on planning a night to hand over the money to The Olive Branch charity with more info to follow on that soon!

"We got lucky with the weather with only a couple of showers and got to do the final leg of the journey and finish in the sunshine. We had a few problems along the way but nothing beat us, from roadside repairs in the middle of the night to repairs in filling stations – with an audience telling us we weren’t near wise while trying to put a front axle and sump back into a tractor at 9pm to drive another 80 mile that evening.

"Thanks to the farmer who got us a trolley jack to help us make the repairs needed to continue, thanks to everyone who stopped us and donated along our way. The memories we made in the three days definitely won’t be forgotten! Thanks to those who joined in to continue the last leg of our journey in their tractors with us.”

Donations can still be made to the Big Vintage Tractor Drive via JustGiving.

Leone Neill from The Olive Branch said: “Alan Mulholland and myself extend our sincerest gratitude to the five men who have organised the Big Vintage Tractor Drive again this year.

"A tremendous amount of effort goes into this huge 500 mile event. All five men did their best to raise an outstanding amount which is not yet finalised but I believe is more than last year which was outstanding itself!

"We are just delighted to have the support and every penny raised will directly impact their local communities. At present they have raised enough to cover 169 professional counselling sessions and the value of this is immeasurable. On behalf of all at The Olive Branch a massive thank you.”