Sat 16 May VEGGIE PRIDE A celebration of vegetarian and vegan way of life organised by Midland Vegan Campaigns. To be held in Birmingham City Centre. It will include a carnival style processesion with stalls, food and entertainment. It would be good if as many people as possible could attend as the council can only give permission for the event if enough people attend. To find out more go to http://www.veggiepride.org.uk/ where you can pledge support for the event.
Sat 23 May National vegetarian week 18th-25 May and a stall is being planned in Solihull on 23 May between 10.30-4.30. Help will be needed. More information on National Vegetarian weeks can be found on http://www.vegsoc.org/
Sat 13 June Redditch Green Fair at St Stephens Church, Church Green, Redditch 1030-3.00.
Sat 11th July 10.30-4.30 A stall will be held to mark the launch of the new SAA recipe book
Sun 12th July 12-4.00 Open Day in aid of the Dogs Trust at Kenilworth to be held at Berkswell and Balsall Common RFC, Honiley, Meer End, Kenilworth, CV8 1NQ £1 adults, 50p children. Including fun dog show, greyhound day, stalls, refreshments (maybe not veggie), dog training demonstrations, fun agility, raffle, canine residents parade etc. Always a good day out. The Dogs Trust have lovely clean kennels and exercise areas, happy dogs and friendly co-operative staff.
Wed 15th July 1.30-3.30 All members welcome at Caroline's home, 1 Houndsfield Mews, Wythall, B'ham B47 6LE for a coffee afternoon. It would be good if people intending to go could email or phone Caroline, so she has some idea of numbers attending. (csjbedpan2002@yahoo.co.uk) 07971271997. Also a good idea to car share as parking is very limited and only a few spaces in front of the garages behind the house. There will be light refreshments, tombola and an opportunity for an informal get-together for SAA supporters.
Sat 1st August 10-4pm Annual Street Collection. As mentioned earlier permission has not been granted for us to collect in the centre of Solihull this year by the council, but we are allowed to collect in Shirley, Dorridge and Knowle. It would be lovely if as many supporters as possible could come to shake a tin as this is our major fund-raising event.
Sat 22nd August 10-4pm Animal Aid's annual street collection in Shirley is being organised by Yvonne Lilley. Yvonne is in need of plenty of helpers and if you can spare some time to help out can you contact her on either lilleyted@aol.com or 0121 742 9966.
Also a reminder that BVV (B'ham Veggies and Vegans http://www.bvv.org.uk/) hold meetings on 4th Tuesday of each month at Carrs Lane Church in the centre of B'ham at 7.30pm. They also organise regular walks. Secondly a reminder that Redditch Veggies and Vegans (wwwredditchveggies.org.uk) hold their meetings on 1st Wednesday of each month.
Helen Easton would like to mention that there are ongoing peaceful demonstrations at Hall Green Stadium on Fridays 6.30-7.30 pm. Help is always needed to hold placards and support the event, if only for 30 mins. Contact Helen on hceaston@yahoo.com if you can help.
Sat 12th September 10.30-4pm. As part of Viva's 'go veggie month' a stall is being held in Solihull. Help always appreciated - email Caroline on csjbedpan2002@yahool.co.uk.
21st-27th September. Animal Aid are holding an anti-shooting week (www.animalaid.org.uk). It would be good if any supporters would be available to run a stall.
Sun 4th October World Animal Day (www.worldanimalday.org.uk)
Saturday 17th October. A stall is being planned as part of the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT). This is part of CAFT's Anti-Fur week on 17-24th October. There is also going to be a demonstration in London on 17th October. (www.caft.org.uk)
Saturday 24th October 11am-5pm. West Midlands Vegan Festival at Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton Civic Hall (www.midlandsveganfestival.org.uk)
Sunday 1st November. World Vegan Day
Thursdays 10th and 17th December 6-8pm. ANNUAL CAROL SINGING in centre of Solihull. Please come along to help us collect vital funding for SAA to help the animal sanctuaries. ALL WELCOME
Following on from the success of last year SAA supporter Mitso Keyayioglou is again taking part in a Spartathlon, running 152 miles from Athens to Sparta. This is happening on 25th & 26th September and again the aim is to raise funds for the important work of Sea Shepherd (www.seashepherd.org/mission.html). Please help Mitso to support Sea Shepherd by sponsoring him on the event and this can be done by contacting Helen Easton on hceaston@yahool.com.
A FINAL THOUGHT: I always feel that there is a great deal of truth in Edmund Burke's quote below, and think that this relates well to the work we are trying to do:-
'For the triumph of evil, it is only necessary that good men or women do nothing'
If you are interested in helping out at a stall or need more information please contact me at yvonnetroth@btinternet.com
