As we wrap up another year in our fight to end cruelty to Scotland’s animals, we’d like to take a look back at some of our favourite OneKind volunteer activity in 2018 …
My Immortal Burns night
We kicked the year off in style with our Policy Advisor, Libby, organising a burns themed gala evening. Our volunteers came along to help serve food, wine and help guests whilst they watched scenes from the life of Robert Burns. We all got the opportunity to listen to some of his best-loved songs and feast on vegan Scottish canapés and wines.
For the Foxes Fox March
800 OneKind volunteers and supporters joined us on 24th March to parade down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. Together with The League Against Cruel Sport and IFAW, we marched ‘For the Foxes‘ to show Scotland’s political parties that the public want to see a real fox hunting ban. The energy on the day was electric, with volunteers face painting, waving placards and banners, and dancing along behind the talented kettle-drum band.
Edinburgh and Glasgow Uni Cake Stalls
Throughout the year our committed OneKind groups from the University of Edinburgh and Glasgow University have been hosting their own events to support our animal campaigns. The two groups have been an inspiration to others wanting to hold their own fundraisers for our charity, their cakes sales proving to be particularly popular.
Meadows Festival
Every year we attend lots of events and festivals to teach people about who we are and what we do. These stall events are really important for creating awareness about OneKind, however, they cannot be done without the help of our volunteer teams. Like so many of the other festival events, the Meadows festival saw our supporters hit the park to help set up and run the stall, giving out stickers and campaign info. This festival was particularly successful, as we were the only stall to be offering face painting, drawing quite the crowd with stencils made by our volunteer Ellie.
Fife Group meetings and events
2018 has been a great year for the growth of our groups outside of Edinburgh. Our Fife group (who have always been known for their fun approach to raising awareness) regularly took to the streets with our Mr. Hare costume. We now have regular meetings as a group with new members arriving each time, bringing new ideas for the growth of the groups activities. You can check out what our volunteers are up to on our volunteer Facebook page.
Art for Animals
After a successful launch last year, Art for Animals returned, hosted by Edinburgh’s Jenners. The event, created by our volunteer Sherry-Ann, celebrated Scotland’s magnificent wildlife whilst also raising awareness of the work OneKind does to protect it. The exhibition brought some of Scotland’s finest wildlife artists together to share their work and raise money for our charity.
Blog posts and social media
This year we took the opportunity to chat to volunteers about their skills and how they’d like to help our charity grow. We were truly fortunate to come across two ladies, Kirsty and Gertie, who were keen to support OneKind’s social media. Kirsty has been a key part of the development of our Instagram account, engaging users with informative posts and photographs. Gertie has supported us by creating blog posts surrounding key issues that our supporters are concerned about, including her post about Lush’s palm oil sources.
Plant swap
We’re always keen to collaborate with local business and with people of similar interests. In December 2018, we had the pleasure of hosting Leith Plant swap’s second Edinburgh event, introducing people to Onekind over their love of plants. The plant swap was an opportunity for people to bring unwanted cuttings and seedlings to swap or give away to other plant enthusiasts. We also invited OneKind supporters Lazy Lettuce to the event, who sold their famous vegan burgers and gave out free samples. Delicious!
Want to get involved with our events in 2019? Drop our events and volunteer officer, Sarah an email at sarah.mackenzie@onekind.org
Leave a Reply