IBERS students compete for FUW Bursary

Bursary Winner Bleddyn James Pugh and runner-up Aled Pugh Jones are awarded their prizes by judges Alun Edwards, Glyn Roberts(FUW President)and Dafydd Williams.

First year agriculture students Bleddyn James Pugh and Aled Pugh Jones were shortlisted for interview by a panel of judges during this year's Royal Welsh Winter Fair. Both submitted 1,000-word essays on the topic "What do you think are the main barriers facing young people entering the land-based industries today?" with their entry forms. Bleddyn was chosen as the winner of the £1,000 bursary by a three-man judges' panel and Aled was awarded £500 as the runner-up.

Bleddyn lives on a mixed hill and upland family farm and has been interested in farming from an early age. "In recent years I have begun to take a more active role in the running of our farm and also work for two contracting companies. Winning the bursary will enable me to make best use of the nine-month work placement I wish to complete as part of my degree. As part of my work experience I plan to travel to New Zealand to work as a shearing contractor. However, I would also like to spend time travelling around farms so that I can study their systems and hopefully find additional aspects that I can implement on our own farm.”
            
The youngest of four children and brought up on a farm, Aled has shown an interest in farming from an early age and spent a lot of time on his grandmother and uncle's farm. "I was encouraged to help on the farm, especially during lambing and harvest," he said. Winning the bursary will help me financially as I would like to spend a year out in New Zealand and the cost of going and living there will be very expensive.”More importantly, I'm very aware that getting a degree on its own isn't enough anymore and in order to get a job in the future it is important to obtain extra qualifications so winning a bursary is very helpful when I will be trying for jobs."

Praising the entries of the two finalists, FUW agricultural education and training committee chairman Alun Edwards said the judges were looking forward to following their respective future careers.

"We still have a problem in our schools with how agriculture is perceived so it's a big responsibility of ours to further agriculture as a career. There is potentially a good career in farming and both finalists are also interested in their local community and giving something back. We were very, very impressed with the maturity of the essays they submitted and we are inviting them to take part in a meeting of the FUW's new younger voice for farming committee.”

During the Winter Fair the union launched its bursary scheme for further education students which will also have a £1,000 award for the winner and £500 for the runner-up.

Application forms can be obtained from FUW Head Office at Llys Amaeth, Plas Gogerddan, Aberystwyth SY23 3BT (Tel: 01970 820820) or from any of the union's county offices (see www.fuw.org for contact details).  

Share