Further Information

Last summer two friends made a 50-year-old dream come true when they drove around Iceland on two Massey Ferguson 35X model 1963. One of the tractors was the exact same one they worked on when they were boys at a farm in the north part of Iceland.

They decided to call themselves Ferguson's friends and raise money for Save the Children's anti bullying project, Friendship - a prevention program against bullying in preschools.

Karl Friðriksson is the CEO at the Icelandic Innovation Center and Grétar Gústavsson is a mechanic. They got to know each other when they were boys at the same farm and have been friends ever since.

Karl has written the story of their journey and they have decided to have it published. All proeceeds go towards Friendship - the anti-bullying project.

During their trip media in Iceland showed great interest in their unusual enterprise, both the tractors and the bullying part. Before their trip Grétar had not come forward with his own experience of being bullied as a kid and young man, but to their surprise people approached them during the trip, not only out of interest for the old tractors, but also with personal stories of bullying. This helped Grétar to work through his own experience from the past. His confidence grew and at the end of the trip it was he who fronted the media, opposed to what had been the case at the beginning of their trip.

The Friendship project was chosen because Karl and Grétar believe in the importance of friendship.

The book is an interesting story about how different good friends can be, about making ones dreams come true, it's a story of beautiful landscapes and the importance of preventing bullying. It has pictures of tractors and people from the trip, and from the old days when they became friends a half a century ago.

This is an ideal christmas present to those interested in Iceland, in tractors and to those who want to support anti-bullying projects.

A few news pieces from the trip:
http://www.ruv.is/frett/tveir-a-ferguson-hringinn-i-kringum-landid
http://www.ruv.is/node/919478
http://www.visir.is/lata-halfrar-aldar-gamlan-draum-raetast/article/2015150629355
http://www.mbl.is/frettir/innlent/2015/06/24/lata50aragamlandraum_raetast/
http://www.mbl.is/frettir/innlent/2015/06/26/mjakasthringinna_traktor/
http://www.akureyri.net/frettir/2015/07/18/tveir-vinir-a-hringferd-gott-mal/
http://www.visir.is/fara-a-tuttugu-og-fimm-kilometra-hrada-umhverfis-landid./article/2015706269979
http://www.ferguson-felagid.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1097:fergusonfelagie-gefur-50000-i-soefnun-qvina-fergusonq&catid=1&Itemid=7
http://www.klaustur.is/Forsida/Frettir/?b=1,3200,news_view.html
http://www.visir.is/section/MEDIA99&fileid=VTV08AA7D6C-20BC-4194-98B9-79A6D0B87694
http://www.mbl.is/frettir/innlent/2015/07/08/keyrduhringinna27km_klst/

Friendship - against bullying

Friendship is a prevention program against bullying based on most recent researches on the subject. It is developed in Denmark by Red Barnet - Save the Children Denmark and Mary Fonden, the foundation run by the Crown princess of Denmark.

The University at Roskilde is part of the project which is now being used in four countries and has proved to be very efficient.

In Iceland Friendship started in six preschools last year after being translated and adjusted accordingly. With financial support the project has been offered to 10% of nursery schools in Iceland. Save the Children Iceland aim is to raise enough funds to be able to offer all pre-schools in Iceland the project for use.

Bullying is an evil force in society and needs to be eliminated. Best results occur when worked with children at an early age to prevent social behaviours that support bullying.