Bristol-based animal campaigning charity, Viva!, have launched their biggest ever fundraising campaign – ‘Bring Hope to Millions’. Their goal is to raise £100k and place first ever pro-vegan cinema ads in front of over two million UK cinema–goers.
Viva! are Europe’s largest vegan campaigning charity and have been promoting a plant-based lifestyle for over 20 years and have launched countless hard-hitting campaigns including bus adverts targeting the dairy industry, a recent nationwide demonstration targeting Tesco for obtaining meat from ‘Hogwood Horror Farm’ and created a media frenzy on foie-gras. Their patrons include Michael Mansfield QC, Benjamin Zephaniah, Joanna Lumley and Jerome Flynn.
Earlier this year, Viva! rescued a sow, Hope, and her six piglets from a farm where they were destined for slaughter. All seven pigs now live at Dean Farm Animal Sanctuary in the beautiful Welsh countryside, where they are free to live out their days in happiness.
Footage of Hope’s first outing at the sanctuary shows her jumping for joy at her newly found freedom. The video was shared online, went viral and captured the hearts of millions, inspiring many to change their diet.
Viva! have compiled a catalogue of shocking footage from investigations into British farms, challenging government and industry’s claims that we have the ‘highest animal welfare standards in the world’. Viva!’s ‘Bring Hope to Millions’ campaign will show audiences the powerful contrast between Hope’s life at the sanctuary and pigs living in the confinement of intensive farms across Britain.
Founder and director of Viva!, Juliet Gellatley explains the significance of this campaign:“Basic natural instincts such as rooting, foraging and nest building are unavailable to pigs on intensive farms. Breeding sows are caged and can’t even turn around for much of the time. The beautiful footage of Hope and her family at the sanctuary demonstrates how pigs should live and is in stark contrast to the lives of farmed animals. Most people have never seen a pig living freely and the contrasts shown in our cinema advert will affect them deeply. We will be offering them help in going vegan – a diet free from all animal products. www.viva.org.uk/easyvegan.”
An anonymous donor will match ALL donations to a total of £50k, so every donation is essentially doubled. Once funds are raised Viva! will begin screening the adverts in cinemas at the end of 2017. Click here for more information
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/food-drink/vegan-food-sales-up-by-1500-in-past-year/01/11/
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/lifestyle/i-tried-going-vegan-heres-happened/07/03/