Shearing fundraiser raises prostate cancer awareness

A team of veteran shearers sheared more than 1,000 sheep during an eight-hour marathon at Cnewr, Crai, Brecon, on 20 June to raise funds and awareness for Prostate Cymru and Brecknock RWAS 2026. 

Six shearers from Brecknock, all aged over 60 – William Workman, Howell Williams, Eifion Morgan, Ian Matthews, Nick Bishop, and Hefin Price – sheared 1,141 sheep between 8am and 5pm raising more than £30,000.

A fourth “floater” stand was also available throughout the day for willing shearers to jump on and lend a hand.

In total, 62 men and women volunteered to help, all donating £25 to the fundraiser.

The oldest volunteer was 82-year-old Elfed Williams from Sennybridge.

Prostate cancer was chosen as the focus due to its personal significance to the shearers and its often late diagnosis in rural communities.

The event aimed to encourage earlier testing and awareness across rural Wales.

“We need to get people talking about prostate cancer,” said one of the organisers, Dilys Price. “We want people to be going to the market and ask each other about being tested.

“The impact would be minimal and they could live another 30-40 years.”

© Dilys Price

Awareness

Dilys recalled a previous local prostate cancer initiative at a local rugby club, where 300 men were tested, with 26 men being recalled for further testing.

“As you can see with that initiative, awareness is so important, and being detected at the rugby event will have made a huge difference in their lives, as it was potentially caught early.”

The team hoped the shearing event would also spark conversation spanning the rural community.

Veteran shearer Hefin Price said: “We shocked ourselves with how many we sheared on the day and were amazed by the support that we’ve been shown.

“It was a pleasure to shear with the other five veteran shearers. We had a lot of fun.”

William, Ian, Eifion, Nick, Howell and Hefin agreed that it was a day that they’ll all “remember for very long time”.

William said: “Shearing is Caring” isn’t just a slogan, it’s something that means a lot to us all.”