I can’t quite believe that we are in June already. We are currently only seven weeks away from this year’s Royal Welsh Show, which is hard to believe, but NFU Cymru is already preparing for this year’s event.

Ahead of the show, and supported by the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust, we are looking for applications from people under 30 who are considering travelling within the UK, Europe or further afield, as part of the Gareth Raw Rees Memorial Scholarship. This year the committee has made £3,000 available to support these beneficial experiences.

The scholarship fund was launched in 1984 in memory of the late Gareth Raw Rees MBE from Ceredigion, whose considerable energies had always been directed towards promoting the interests of young people in farming and in the countryside. He was also a firm believer in the benefits of travelling towards the fulfilment of a broader and more rewarding education.

Past winners of the award have travelled to New Zealand, Australia, America, the Orkney Islands, Georgia, the Isle of Man and many other destinations. We have awarded scholarships to some incredible young farmers and their experiences abroad have been extremely beneficial to their own farming practices back here in Wales. I urge anyone looking to travel abroad to submit an application this year as you could very well be successful.

The Gareth Raw Rees Scholarship offers fantastic opportunities for young people to travel and learn about farming methods in other parts of the world and it is vital that these young farmers fain a wider perspective to help them farm successfully.

The scholarship is managed by the Raw Rees family, NFU Cymru, NFU Mutual, Wales YFC, the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University and the Future Farmers of Wales. The closing date for applications is Friday 14th June, with the winners announced on the Tuesday of the Royal Welsh Show. For an application form please visit the NFU Cymru website, email [email protected] or telephone the NFU Cymru office on 01982 554200.