Vegan taco night in Hackney

Black Cat Hackney and Huitzmil present Tacos Against Borders, a benefit for Akwaaba.

Akwaaba is a Hackney-based social centre for migrants. They offer a space for rest, play, learning and mutual support. Akwaaba is for all migrants regardless of immigration status, ‘race’, religion, country of origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and (dis)ability.

Akwaaba doesn’t currently have a venue and they are putting all their efforts towards securing one, so you can support them by attending this event (and letting them know about a spare venue if you know of one!). They need space every Sunday so a school hall in the Hackney area would be perfect.

Now… onto news of the event taking place inside Black Cat Hackney this Sunday December 5, 2021 at 6:00PM.

Talks and activities

  • Huitzmil speaking about how he crossed from Mexico to USA and the challenges he faced
  • Andres Posada from Colombia speaking about how he arrived to the UK and the challenges he faced as a migrant
  • Mini market
  • Acoustic set by Hugh Vivian from the anarcho punk band Omega Tribe

Menu

  • Marinated lamb style seitan , vegetable escabeche, pineapple, tomatillo salsa , avocado
  • Drunken fish pieces cooked in tequila , chilli and coriander , vegetable escabeche and charred salsa.
  • Beer battered Oyster mushrooms , guacamole, escabeche
  • Nachos :Freshly fried corn tortillas, spicy smokey beans , jalapeños, shitake bacon and cheese sauce

Everything served on corn tortillas or house made flour tortillas.

And of course you can follow Black Cat Cafe on Instagram.

Extra note: if you cannot attend this event in support of Akwaaba but would like to donate to help the important work they do, please donate via their website.

Fundraiser dinner with Animal Equality in London

Hey London!

You can join Animal Equality at their Festive Fundraiser on Tuesday December 3, 2019 for an evening that promises to be packed full of merriment.

Entertainment at the Central London event (near Farringdon) will feature the always inspiring Christopher Sebastian and the hilarious Carl Donnelly. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to see them in action, then you definitely don’t want to miss this event.

You’ll also hear about the incredible work that Animal Equality has been able to carry out this year thanks to the generosity of their wonderful supporters, as well as enjoy a delicious plant-based, three-course meal and help the charity raise funds through a raffle.

The ticket price also includes a welcome drink and wine with the meal.

Entertainment

Speaker – Christopher Sebastian

Christopher Sebastian is the director of social media for Peace Advocacy Network, he sits on the Advisory Council for Encompass, he is senior editor at Vine Sanctuary Press, he is co-founder of VGN, and he lectures at Columbia University in the Department of Social Work for the graduate course POP: Power, Oppression, and Privilege. He primarily focuses on animal violence and how it influences anti-black racism, queer antagonism and class discrimination throughout the global west.

Comedy – Carl Donnelly

Carl has been nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award twice and has appeared on various TV shows including Mock the Week and Russell Howard’s Good News. He is a regular on the international comedy circuit, performing at pretty much every comedy festival there is!

Animal Equality look forward to seeing you next week. Click here to book tickets.

Extra note: The event space is accessible and Signing can be arranged on request.

One night only musical event

It’s not all cupcakes and beer around these parts.

I’m breaking with regular blogging to share some non-vegan news with you.

I’m sad to not be seeing Loserville the Musical for its one-off return this weekend.

It was one of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever seen on stage. When I saw it a few years ago, I was so taken by the musical I saw it twice.

All my love and support to the cast and crew as they return for just one night on January 28, 2018 to raise funds for charities supporting young people dealing with thoughts of suicide and young performers in low-socioeconomic situations.

If you are in London, please consider grabbing a ticket for this weekend to help raise funds for these charities and pay tribute to Chris Hardman, one of the original cast members of this musical. Chris ended his own life in 2015 after living with depression.

Buy tickets by clicking here.

Beer and food for charity

If you are anywhere in the vicinity of Orpington this Saturday (July 30, 2016) you need to make time to get along to this wonderful event.

The Orpington Liberal Club is playing host to a fundraising night called Flap 4 F.R.I.E.N.D.S., with money going to F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Animal Rescue.

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The venue always has an amazing selection of quality vegan ales on offer and my friend Alternative Chef Steph sent me a preview of her special food menu for the night.

It includes:

Ponga Harvest Platter

BBQ jackfruit & smoky cheeze quesadillas
Chorizo & potato tortilla
Tomato salsa
Roasted padron peppers

Cheeze Taster Plate

Dragons Breath (chipotle chile cheddar)
Stilton style
Cheddar style

All served with freshly baked bread & home made green tomato chutney

Raw Cake Taster Plate

Bounty
Carrot with lemon cashew frosting
Ginger slice

All of that delicious sounding food is vegan as well as being gluten and refined sugar free.

On top of the wonderful food and drink being sold, the event will feature music and spoken word performances.

It will only cost you £5 on the door, you’ll have a fabulous night out and you will be helping F.R.I.E.N.D.S. carry on with their crucial work.

Get more details and RSVP on the Facebook event page.

By attending this event, you will be directly helping animals like Gary the goat (pictured below). If you are unable to attend this event but would like to support Gary and his friends, you can donate online.
FRIEND+animals+04

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Nanabar

This is a super interesting idea for raising the profile of a new vegan food business.

Thunderclap.

nanabar

A person named Justin is currently drumming up interest in a new vegan project set to open in London. Justin is planning to launch a frozen banana dessert bar called Nanabar and wants to use social media to get word out about it.

The campaign involves asking people to register a social media account and on July 4, 2016 a message announcing the project will be sent simultaneously from all participating Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr accounts.

It’s a smart way of spreading the news of a new vegan business to hundreds of thousands of people all at once.

Click here to hear from Justin, sign up to help spread the word and be part of a unique promotional event for a new vegan venture.

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For art’s sake

How about flying your vegan flag proudly while at the same time supporting an amazing art show in London?

Check out these details sent in by Louise:

ANIMUS is an international group show exploring human treatment of other animals, as well as the vegan identity and what it means to see with ‘our’ eyes. The aim is to support animals hidden from the public gaze to be seen. Animals will feature in all works, and provide the overarching theme.

exhibition panel

We’re showing some of the most celebrated vegan artists, like Sue Coe (Graphic Artist/UK & US), Jo-anne McArthur (Photographer/Canada), Roger Olmos (Illustrator/Spain), and Amy Guidry (Surrealist Painter/US) whose painting Mother Nature is the featured image for this campaign and will be an exhibit. Also Philip McCulloch Downs (Painter/UK), Matthew Maran (Photographer/UK), and Jana Schirmer (Digital artist/Germany).

To celebrate this exhibition, we are hosting a magical evening at the Private View at Kabaret @ Karamel on Friday July 29, 2016 with speakers, a party later with DJs, and of course the chance to take in the exhibition itself, and mingle with fellow art lovers.

We’ll also be hosting representatives from our supporters: The Vegan Society, and Vegan Life magazine.

The official opening party for this groundbreaking exhibition – the first by Vegan artists- is entry by INVITATION ONLY – which you get when you contribute £10 (or more) to our crowd-funding campaign. A free glass of wine & nibbles are included! Click here to donate & secure your invitation.

We can’t wait for this exciting event and look forward to meeting you there!

Click here for the Facebook event for the launch party and even if you cannot attend, donate now to help this show happen!

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TeenVGN office


TeenVGN
has got to be one of the most valuable support groups in the country.

If you cast your mind back to when you where a teenager, it was probably fairly likely that you didn’t feel supported in a lot of what you thought, felt and believed in.

This is why TeenVGN is so vital. The group works hard to support and validate the choices of teenagers who wish to live a more compassionate life via their website where they host blogs, information links and a member forum.

TeenVGN is more than an online presence, however.

Read more

C-A-L-F cash

Vegans and animal-friendly people are rallying hard around C-A-L-F Sanctuary in North Yorkshire.

When it was announced that the sanctuary needed £80,000 to survive following an impending closure notice (yes, £80,000!), a lot of people felt a sense of doom for the animals housed at C-A-L-F. How was it going to be possible to raise such a huge amount of money?

With the help of compassionate people, that’s how!

C-A-L-F supporters have dug deep and at the time of writing this blog post, more than £40,000 has been raised for the campaign.

help

This is heartening. More than 50% of the target met means C-A-L-F can raised everything they need with a little more of a push.

Here is how you can help:

  • donate whatever spare change/cash you have to the campaign (if everyone who visited this blog in a month gave £1, the target would be met in no time at all)
  • make vegan cupcakes, sell them and donate the profits
  • do a collection at work, school and home for donations
  • sell some unwanted goods/clothes on eBay and donate the money
  • share this blog post far and wide
  • follow C-A-L-F on Twitter and Facebook
  • buy something from the C-A-L-F online shop
  • buy a gift for someone else from the online shop

Come on. The target is huge but not insurmountable if we all stick together.

Do it for the rescued farm animals who deserve a forever home.


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Vegan diner in Birmingham

One of my favourite vegan food traders in the UK has commenced an Indiegogo campaign in order to open their own bricks and mortar outlet in Birmingham.

And I think you might wanna get behind them!

Lisa and Andy of The Vegan Grindhouse make some of the most delicious vegan comfort food out there and I’d love to see them be able to expand their business.

They need a LOT of money to make their diner dream come alive, but the good news is they also have a few smaller goals just in case their fundraising drive falls short:

  • Stretch Goal £30,000 The Vegan Grindhouse Diner and Bar will open!
  • Main Goal £25,000 The Vegan Grindhouse Diner will open!
  • Interim Goal 1 £20,000 The Vegan Grindhouse Take Away Shop will start trading.
  • Interim Goal 2 £15,000 A new street food van and trailer upgrade so they can attend more events across the country.
  • Interim Goal 3 £10,000 A street food van to add to their brand so they will be able to travel further to events and add to the TVG experience.
  • Interim Goal 4 £5,000 A new trailer – their current trailer has seen better days and a new trailer with a better kitchen will mean faster, fresher food for you.
  • Interim Goal 5 £2000 With this amount, they can repair their existing trailer and car and be able to continue trading at existing events.

As you can see, if we join forces we can help The Vegan Grindhouse step up their game even if we don’t get them all the way to their top goal.

Click here now to donate to their campaign (and check out the rewards for people who donate). The country NEEDS a vegan diner and you can help make it a reality.


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Food for displaced people

It often feels like we are being asked for money and donations continually via the Internet. There are so many people and animals in need of assistance, it is little wonder that we find ourselves feeling bombarded by requests.

The important thing to remember when we see another campaign imploring us to donate is that we are being asked to help because the majority of us are in the position to help.

Even if it is a few pounds, most of us can spare something at the end of the month.

You know where this is going, right? You are about to get hit up for money.

I am asking you to join me in supporting this crucial campaign to get hot vegan meals to the displaced people currently living in camps in and around Calais, France.

My friend Emily Runc of Rupert’s Street has joined forces with a small team of street food traders to cook and deliver hot vegan food to refugees. Read what she has to say below:

In September, a group of us headed out to Calais to serve hot food to the refugees in the camps. Following on from the success of this first visit, a group of street food traders known as Street Aid UK is planning a return trip in January and we are desperately trying to raise funds to make this happen. We are going to provide hot food and also supplies to help the displaced population cope with the unimaginable circumstances they find themselves in.

Through the pain and suffering they have endured, to be forced from their own countries, the struggle and hundreds of miles traveling to bring themselves to safety, and the living conditions they are still forced to endure, these people still managed the strength to show us kindness during our visit. We must do what we can to give them a little comfort during the harsh winter.

Our group of street food traders needs to raise £10,000 in order to return to Calais for 4 days in January from the 14th – 18th, where we will be supplying hot meals and taking much needed supplies such as sleeping bags, tents, coats, building supplies and basic cooking equipment to displaced people in the camp.

OK. This is where we help.

I know we can get Street Aid UK to their goal is no time at all. If every person reading this gave £10, the target would be reached in a matter of hours.

I know we want to do the right thing, but we often need some encouragement so I’m going to set a challenge.

Fat Gay Vegan’s challenge for Calais

Put one item back from your shopping basket/trolley/cart this week and donate the money saved to the Street Aid UK Calais drive. So simple.

Examples:

  • One Vego bar = £3.49
  • A tub of Booja Booja ice cream = £5.99
  • A glass of wine in tibits = £6.50

You can see how easily we could reach the target if we all sacrificed just one purchase this week.

To make it more interactive, I would love for you to post a comment below telling us what you have given up this week and how much money has been donated to the Street Aid UK fundraising drive.

Let’s do this. Let’s show compassion for people in dire circumstances by helping Emily and her group deliver hot vegan meals and crucial supplies.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW

Thank you.


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