If I wore a hat, I would take it off to these people.
A group of compassionate people in Scotland just carried out what is one of the best examples of activism I have seen in a long time. They wanted to get a message across to their communities, so they raised the funds to erect a billboard in both Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The brilliant yet subtle message comes across clearly and thoughtfully. It gets everyday people thinking about how they have been socialised into accepting some animals as loving companions whilst others are bred, mistreated and killed for food.
Congratulations to everyone involved in this fantastic campaign. I hope we see many more like this in the future.
Find more info on the Vegan Billboard campaign here.
Do you want to see something that will melt your heart?
Make sure you switch your TV over to the Community Channel (in the UK) this Sunday night (September 27, 2015) at 6pm for a very special documentary that will make you want to rush to Mexico to cuddle a rescued monkey.
My friend Wendy Turner Webster recently teamed up with Julie Peasgood for a trip to Mexico in order to visit a sanctuary for spider monkeys rescued from the pet trade.
This is what the resulting documentary, Monkey Business, has in store for viewers:
In Wendy & Julie’s Monkey Business, the intrepid duo fly from London to Cancun in Mexico to visit The Jungle Place – a sanctuary dedicated to the rescue of the endangered Spider Monkeys who are victims of the illegal pet trade, poaching, and habitat destruction.
The Jungle Place is a sustainable charity and has the endorsement of the Born Free Foundation. It is run by Heidi and Joel – a couple who have dedicated their lives to the setting up and running of the sanctuary.
In the programme, Wendy & Julie meet the residents and learn of their stories, and find out how Heidi and Joel went from casual holiday makers to spider monkey rescuers and renowned experts.
The documentary debuts this Sunday night. Make sure you tune in for a simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking tale of compassion. Community Channel can be found at Freeview 63, Freeview HD 109, Sky 539, Virgin 233 and freesat 651. Look for other platform screenings soon.
Like Monkey Business on Facebook and read more about The Jungle Place here.
Monkey Business featured in Hello magazine
Extra note: Covent Garden bar and restaurant Joe Allen has generously created a vegan-friendly ‘Spider Monkey’ Cocktail and is donating £1 to The Jungle Place for each drink sold. Stop in for a drink if you feel like helping the spider monkeys in a unique way!
When we first moved here last spring, the north-west part of the city was curiously lacking in vegan places, compared to the rest of Berlin.
While it is still a noticeably empty zone on the Happy Cow map, the situation has improved due to the opening of two all-vegan cafés, Geh Veg and Valladares. They’re both very nice places too.
My pal Jhenn, the head chef at Veg Bar in Brixton, has given me the highest accolade I can imagine. She asked me to help design a burger and named it after me!
Check out this compassionate version of a Big Mac known as the FGV Burger.
Important news from the wonderful Made in Hackney.
They need our help to raise funds for the valuable plant-based educational work they do for their local community. They work hard to give low income, vulnerable and hard to reach people knowledge and skills related to affordable, nutritious vegan cooking.
Check out these facts about their gala fundraiser event and then book tickets!
Fry’s Family Foods and Fat Gay Vegan are teaming up to raise much needed funds for Hugletts Wood Farm Sanctuary.
Hugletts Wood Farm provides sanctuary to cows and their friends. This is a home for life to farm animals and birds, rescued from the misery of the meat and dairy industry and the horrors of the slaughterhouse. Hugletts Wood Farm is the only farm animal sanctuary in the UK that operates a dedicated Cow Protection Program. It is also the only vegan farm in the UK that runs such a sanctuary.Hugletts work extremely hard to self-fund as much as possible, growing vegetables and fruits and producing a whole range of garden products but they still face hefty bills for feed and bedding plus the inevitable cost of essential veterinary care, which runs into thousands of pounds a year.
This is your chance to help Hugletts help animals. We can do this together!
Fry’s Family Foods and Fat Gay Vegan are running a campaign from now until World Animal Day on October 4, 2015 to highlight the invaluable work carried out by the sanctuary, as well as raise the crucial funds to help Hugletts carry out improvements on their property. The campaign will culminate with Fry’s Family Foods sponsoring a minibus to take competition winners and leading activists for a visit to Hugletts Wood Farm Sanctuary on World Animal Day. (Details of competition on Fry’s Facebook and Twitter )
Give generously to this amazing farm sanctuary and you will be directly improving the lives of all the animals that have come to make Hugletts their ‘for life’ home.
The target goal of this campaign is £13,650. This is not a small amount and gives you an insight into the huge costs associated with housing up to two hundred rescued animals.
The funds raised from this campaign will help cover the cost of new fencing and cameras on the properties to help keep the animals safe from harm.
Any extra raised above the target will go towards the weekly running costs of £1,200 a week. (most of this is covered by the produce and products generated on the farm)
Please give generously now and join Fry’s and FGV in supporting Hugletts Wood Farm Sanctuary. Click here to donate. Every pound directly helps animals.
I have been asked about this topic so many times over the past few years, I’ve actually got a pre-prepared response that I copy and paste.
What is the topic? Vegan Quorn products in the UK.
I’m going to have to change my usual response of ‘soon’ and ‘I don’t know’ because vegan Quorn products are about to crash land on the UK vegan landscape in a big way.
Check out the first two lines coming to a major UK supermarket next month.
