Farmer’s charity herd sells for £81k at auction in memory of wife

A local farmer who considers himself lucky to be alive after being crushed by a bull during a market day accident has raised a whopping £81,000 for charity in memory of his wife, by auctioning off his beloved cattle herd.

Emyr Wigley said he was “really impressed” by the amount raised from his herd of pedigree British Blue cattle at an auction held by Halls in Shrewsbury on Saturday.

“I am really impressed by the way they were prepared and sold and I really hope the money will help a lot of people,” said Emyr 78, from Deytheur, near Llansantffraid, who said he is far from retiring from his fundraising yet.

“There are plenty of things in the pipeline like garden openings from July onwards and I also make furniture. I am also into odd jobs and quite happy to do after dinner speaking and shall concentrate on my next book.”

Emyr (pictured second from right) was expecting to do the cattle sale next year, but brought it forward a year after suffering the serious injuries earlier this year, when a bull was ‘spooked’ with him still in the pen at Carlisle market.

“I was bit unfortunate to hurt myself but we have had seven years of pleasure from the cattle and have met some wonderfully generous people,” he said.

He decided to auction off his herd in memory of his wife, Evelyn, who were dairy farmers for more than 20 years and also had a small group of British Blues which she loved.https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AMWts8DLFEq9HETVmIFi0wRR0anKD5IJ5yienmZYmlb54_GkHQ1I8sfA1hwdaB6YcQUv9_R_seeKZ9cVjC4M4MZFcgsO1Bc-XfIEvEQYfSMqumPl6qlwLl_oViDgIc8LAskD7M-oYpv_YgPGLxG4ZPEcD7Uj-w=w473-h279-no?authuser=0

It was therefore an obvious choice to form a small breeding herd of British Blues in her memory.

“She would have been upset to see the cattle sold, but if she had been here, she would have had the same pleasure as me in breeding them,” added Emyr, who lost his wife to Ovarian Cancer in 2015, when she was 69.

Ovarian Cancer Action plans to fund a specialist researcher for an entire year with its share of the sale proceeds, while the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI), a charity that looks after the farming community’s mental wellbeing, will also benefit.

This latest fundraising exercise takes his total amount raised over recent years beyond £200,000, and he is obviously not done yet.