Emyr Wigley to sell pedigree British Blue herd for Ovarian Cancer Action

Welsh farmer Emyr Wigley is selling his herd of 33 British Blue cattle to raise money for Ovarian Cancer Action.

This is in memory of his late wife, Evelyn, who sadly lost her battle with the disease in 2015.

Emyr Wigley © Laura Pritchard

The former dairy farmers retired with grand plans to travel and take holidays in their caravan in the British countryside – something they had never had the time to do while farming.

See also: Royal Marines to deliver mental health training to Scotland’s ag sector

Tragically, at the start of their retirement, Evelyn was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, robbing the couple of the precious time they had planned to spend together.

Wanting to give something back, and also support fellow farmers, Mr Wigley set up The Old Stackyard British Blues project in 2016. 

Since then money from every sale from the pedigree herd has been shared between Ovarian Cancer Action and the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution.

Mr Wigley said: “Evelyn and I built up a dairy herd and we managed to be successful only by hard work and much self-sacrifice, with the business needs always coming first.

“Our plans to travel and to enjoy caravan holidays, which we both loved, were put on hold until our retirement. It was a devastating blow to learn in the first few years of our retirement that Evelyn had ovarian cancer.

“She was a very special lady, kind, caring and multi-talented. After a lifetime of work, the majority of her retirement years were stolen from her.” 

To date, Mr Wigley has raised more than £121,000 for the charities through sales of his cattle.

The final sale of 33 British Blues will take place in Shrewsbury Auction Centre on 4 March, where he hopes to make a further £100,000 for charity.