Retired farmer remains focused on dream of raising £250k for charities

Retired dairy farmer Emyr Wigley has not given up on his dream of raising £250,000 for two charities in memory of his late wife, Evelyn.

Last month, Emyr, 78, who lives at Llansantffraid, on the Powys-Shropshire border, sold his unique herd of pedigree British Blue cattle at auction in Shrewsbury for £81,000.

The sum achieved by the Old Stackyard Blues herd took the total raised so far to nearly £202,000, which has been shared between farming charity RABI and Ovarian Cancer Action.

Now Emyr has set his sights on raising the remainder needed to hit the £250,000 target.

He wants to sell all 400 remaining copies of his book, ‘The Journey’, before considering writing a sequel.

He also has a couple of remaining bulls from his herd to sell, plans to open his garden to groups of all sizes this summer, as well as other fundraising plans in the pipeline.

“I am really happy with the amount already raised, but my target when Evelyn was very poorly was £250,000,” explained Emyr.

“It doesn’t matter if I don’t get there but we are well on the way. I’m hoping that in another five years, we might hit the target.

“We have been supported by a lot of very generous people. If Evelyn were alive today, she probably wouldn’t believe we had raised so much money, but I think she would be happy.

“She would probably think I had lost the plot,” he joked, “but at least Evelyn’s memory lives on.

"Memories of our time together are what inspired my first book, sales of which have raised £6,000 so far.”

Reflecting on the sale of his beloved British Blues, he confessed: “I do miss the cattle because I am a cattle man through and through. However, I was realistic from the start and knew the day was going to come.

“If it hadn’t have been this year, it would probably have been next year. We had seven years of pleasure from the cattle and got to meet some wonderfully generous people.”

The herd was established in 2016 in memory of Evelyn who died the previous year, at the age of 69, from ovarian cancer.

Emyr pledged to raise awareness and educate people about ovarian cancer, which he describes as an “evil disease” as a tribute to her.

Because of the couple’s long connection with the farming community, he also wanted to support farmers in need through RABI.

Ovarian Cancer Action plans to fund a specialist researcher for an entire year with its share of the sale proceeds, while RABI says the money will help the charity to reach more people with its services.

Emyr took the decision to sell up after being accidentally injured when one of his bulls crushed and trampled him after becoming “spooked” whilst being groomed for a sale in Carlisle in January.

He was rescued from the pen by his niece, Laura Pritchard, who helped with the Old Stackyard Blues admin.

However, his badly injured leg and foot are still being treated at the Orthopaedic Hospital, Gobowen.