Provincial towns you jog round

It’s all over

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After 10 shows in 9 cities, my first ever Vegan Roadshow is all over.

I want to give a massive thank you to all the people who supported our Indiegogo campaign, helping us to cover some of the costs associated with taking a band, a blogger and an activist group on the road.

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Lots of love and appreciation goes out to the venues that hosted our event. Thank you for taking a chance on our unique tour and I hope it was worthwhile for you. Your support was invaluable in helping us spread our message of compassion.

We wouldn’t have had a tour without the attendees. The people who came to the shows were full of enthusiasm and made all of us feel welcome in each city. Thank you for showing up and spending your money on merchandise. We are thankful.

Thank you to the bands and performers who helped us entertain people along the way including the wonderful Chrissy Barnacle and the irrepressible Colour Me Wednesday.

Superstar food providers kept us fed and happy during the tour. Thank you to the wonderful chefs and cooks who came out to each stop of Vegan Roadshow to impress us with their culinary skills.

HUGE appreciation goes to Connor Jackson who not only managed the Animal Equality merch stand at every stop of the tour, but also stepped up to perform at most of the gigs. Connor is an incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist who works hard to spread the vegan message. Thanks, Connor.

Josh Leuner is my partner and he certainly got more than he bargained for with Vegan Roadshow. Josh drove the van all on his own for the entire tour and performed an acoustic set at most of the stops. His unwavering support of my outlandish pursuits is the stuff that makes life bearable. I love you, Josh.

Final thanks to the Vegan Roadshow resident band, Love Like Hate. Sonja and Heather are two of the most passionate, authentic and compassionate people on the planet and I’m extremely fortunate to have shared this experience with them. Their unwavering love of music and doing the right thing pushed them into agreeing to fly all the way from Brisbane, Australia at great personal expense to help me bring Vegan Roadshow to life. I am forever humbled by their musical talent and kindness. Saying goodbye to them as they prepared to return to Australia filled me with a definite sadness. Thank you. Lots of love, always.

Back of the van… Connor, Heather & Sonja

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The Vegan Kind

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One of the biggest joys of being on the Vegan Roadshow is meeting all of the people who come out to listen to the bands and chat with Animal Equality.

The Glasgow stop of the tour brought an extra special (and generous) guest in the form of Karris, the founder of the subscription box service The Vegan Kind.

Not only did Karris buy a ticket to the show, support Animal Equality with donations and listen appreciatively to every piece of music played by our performers, she also gifted everyone on the roadshow with one of her lovely subscription boxes.

Check out what we got!

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Glasgow food frenzy

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As my Vegan Roadshow rounds the halfway point, we are getting ready to depart Glasgow and head to Liverpool.

I wanted to take two minutes out of my day before we set off down the motorway to show you a few photos of the vegan food I have been devouring in Glasgow these past few days.

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New vegan grocery store

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Here is some excellent news.

Birmingham (in the UK, not Alabama USA) is about to get a brand new vegan retail outlet.  This will be the second 100% vegan shop in the city. Geez, Birmingham. Don’t be so greedy!

Get a sneaky look inside the still-being-built shop below and read what the owner has to say about the new outlet which just happens to be named Vegan Store. Catchy, right?

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Vegan paint job

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One of my favourite things about being in the vegan community is when people come together to help others.

It happened recently when readers of this blog helped raise funds to get Veg Instead back to trading, it happens daily when millions of vegans join voices to sign petitions like this one and I’m hoping it will happen again to assist a vegan restaurant in the UK with expenses related to redecorating.

Painted Elephant is a vegan restaurant in the Northern UK city of Newcastle. The business owners took a huge personal and professional leap when they decided to open the first 100% vegan eatery in this part of the country and I’m sure it has been tough work to get through these first few months.

But Painted Elephant has survived and is happily still serving up delicious plant-based meals and desserts to appreciative vegans and omnivores alike.

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I am grateful for the dedication shown by places such as Painted Elephant and that is why I don’t mind helping financially when I can. They save animals by serving alternatives to meat, eggs and dairy so they deserve a helping hand when they ask for it, in my humble opinion.

The owners of Painted Elephant opened their restaurant on a shoestring budget but have now decided they would like to decorate to ensure the location can compete with every other non-vegan place in the city when it comes to presentation and decor.

They are only asking for £500 to make this happen and I know £1 from 500 people is a realistic target. Let’s get Painted Elephant looking good as a thank you for everything they do for promoting vegan food and animal protection.

Click here to contribute.

If you are not in the position to contribute, you might consider supporting this restaurant by sharing news of the fundraiser.

Extra note: you can join me at Painted Elephant on July 23, 2015 for Vegan Roadshow. Australian vegan band Love Like Hate will be performing a gig inside the restaurant. Book tickets here. (strictly limited space)

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Birmingham eating

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Super short post for anyone in (or interested in being in) Birmingham this weekend.

CHoEdIPWIAADlDtYay for vegan food traders at local events!

I also like the sound of a mobile gin bar.

Not sure who or what Vegan Grindhouse is? Click here to read more.

UPDATE: After posting this story, I was contacted by Two Towers Brewery who told me their ales will be vegan during the event as well. Drink, eat and be extremely merry!

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