MEET the couple in the running to win a 600-acre dream farm in Eryri (Snowdonia).
Sara and Ioan, from Ceredigion and Gwynedd, are currently starring in Channel 4’s National Trust: Our Dream Farm with Matt Baker which sees seven applicants battle to become the new tenants of unique hill farm Llyndy Isaf, Nant Gwynant by completing real-life farming tasks.
Llyndy Isaf has been in the care of National Trust Cymru since the charity bought the farm in 2012 after a successful public appeal.
Sara and Ioan hope the farm can become their first home as a couple; The pair currently live about 70 miles apart.
Sara works for a sheep breeding company and Ioan is a plumber.
Both are from farming backgrounds and both are passionate about Welsh hill farming.
Ioan is also a skilled sheep shearer and dry stone waller.
The tenancy would be a chance to raise their own livestock.
Sara said: "I'm living with my family on our family farm and it is getting about time to get myself moved out now."
Ioan said: "I live on a beef and sheep farm with my parents. Farming, that's where my passion is really. It's always been my dream to have a family farm and get a farm ourselves and to hopefully have a family there one day together."
Across eight episodes, the prospective tenants will be eliminated one by one until there are only two hopefuls left.
The final two will then be invited to have a final meeting with the National Trust, with one being selected to become the owner of the farm.
The applicants, which are from Conwy, Buckinghamshire and Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Essex and Gloucestershire [in addition to the couple from Ceredigion and Gwynedd], have all gone through an application process. This involved visiting the farm, presenting a business plan and demonstrating how equipped they are to take on the tenancy [in the same way as any Farm Business Tenancy opportunity with the National Trust]. Shortlisted applicants also took part in a three-week special selection process.
Trystan Edwards, general manager for Eryri, National Trust Cymru, said:
“It’s a privilege to have a farm in Wales selected for this programme. Llyndy is an incredible landscape, from the shores of Llyn Dinas to the heather clad ridge of Mynydd Llyndy, it holds a special place for nature, people and history."
National Trust: Our Dream Farm with Matt Baker is available to view on Channel 4 on Saturdays at 7pm. Readers can catch up on 4oD.
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