MKVEGAR’s next Veggie World meal & social is on Wednesday, 10 December (moved forward a week due to Christmas) at 7.30pm. If you would like to come please let me know by Tuesday 9th so that I can inform the restaurant of numbers expected otherwise, you can turn up on the night without a booking. Further monthly meals on 21 January & 18 February.

MKVEGAR News & Events August 2008 Update

MKVEGAR’s next Veggie World meal & social is on Wednesday, 15 October from 7.30pm. If you would like to come please let me know by Tuesday 16th so that I can inform the restaurant of numbers expected otherwise, you can turn up on the night without a booking. Further monthly meals on 19 November and 10 December.

Recent Events

Animal Aid Street Collections

Towcester, 28 June – Last year despite a difficult day due to a clash with another street collection held here and the opposition to us shown by the Health Store due to our posters we did well in terms of funds raised. This year it was more relaxed. We also brought along our small table more for advertising that we were there. Thanks to local vegan contact Phyllis Brockhurst we managed to match last year’s total of £92 and distributed a lot of the ‘Ban Zero Grazing’ postcards.

Aylesbury, 5 July – At the same time in 2007 we achieved our highest return of £304 so, this year it was going to be difficult to match given the economic circumstances. A return of £203 was quite good thanks to Jill Meade the co-ordinator, Anne Duvall, Clare Sherman & the editor.

Milton Keynes (inside theCentre:MK), 26 July - Without the posters & leaflets due to the restrictions, we still managed to raise £236 thanks to Trevor & Miriam Jones, Allie Catt, Mark Owen, Sheena Hirst-Styles and the editor.

Bletchley, 2 August – A grand stall was set-up at our normal spot between the Brunel Centre and the old Co-op. I think in this area we were affected by the economic conditions as well as the wet weather in the morning. At the same week in 2007 we raised £187 but this year it was only £128 although still a reasonable total thank to helpers: Trevor Jones, Jane Wilson, Jackie Dewhurst, Sheena Hirst-Styles, Allie Catt & the editor.

Tring, 2 August - Jill Meade & other helpers raised £170, the highest so far in this location.

Bedford, 9 August - The normal half day licence from 9am – 1pm, surprisingly raised the highest to date of £223 despite the rain and blustery weather. Coordinated by Laura Black with help from Julie, Susan Baxter, Ian Black, the editor and others). Restricted to leafleting in the afternoon.

Uncaged Street Collections

Central Milton Keynes, outside the Food Centre, 2 August – Carol Hart, an experienced campaigner, co-ordinated the collection, traveling up from Tring with no knowledge of CMK. We gave Carol suggestions where to set-up her stall and managed to find a couple of volunteers in Mark Owen and Mark French. MKVEGAR was already committed to the Animal Aid collection in Bletchley on the same day. The collection raised £104.

Hemel Hempstead, 16 August – Carol Hart and the editor made it a joint effort with a double stall in Bank Court, an area in the town centre that Uncaged had booked. With a large town centre and plenty of volunteers including the attraction of two ex-guide dogs brought along by Stephanie & Karen McCarthy, we had a good day, raising £276. Other volunteers included: Anne Duvall, Margaret Browning, Marianne Holmes-Walker, Liz Mitchell and Stephanie’s friend. We were also focusing on the Hurtful Herbal Essences Campaign, one of Procter & Gamble range of animal tested cosmetics. Carol also brought along veggie / vegan leaflets from Viva! and covered that area as well as anti-vivisection.

Other Stalls

Central Milton Keynes, 13 July – Veggie theme outside McDonalds, the Centre:MK branch on a Sunday. Distributed lots of the Animal Aid factory farming leaflet ‘Old MacDonald had a farm’ and other leaflets. Not many youngsters were hanging around as anticipated.

Buckingham, 19 July - Environment Theme Day (Viva!’s Hot campaign) outside Waitrose in the Cornwalls Centre. Following the recently opened store, there are more shoppers in this area of the town. Setup a small stall and leafleted the shoppers with Viva!’s “Hey Meaty, you’re making me so hot!”. A lot of people took the leaflet whilst some livestock farmers identified themselves and debated the issues.

National Campaigns

Viva!’s Veggie Month

The theme for September 2008 is protection of biodiversity by going veggie. Viva! believe that the meat and dairy industries are the number one cause of loss of biodiversity around the world. They top the list in making wildlife and plants extinct. Eating a beef burger doesn’t just cost the life of the cow, it also costs the lives of innumerable wild animals by destroying their natural habitat. So, by going veggie you not only save around 11,047 animals in a lifetime but thousands of wild animals too.

Animal Aid’s Anti-Shooting Week

September marks the start of the partridge and pheasant shooting seasons so, Animal Aid would like to raise awareness amongst the public about the cruelty, greed and waste associated with the ‘game bird’ rearing and shooting industries. A week of action is scheduled for 22-28 September. Many people will not be aware of the scale of the slaughter, annually some 42 million pheasants and partridges are purpose-bred in factory farm conditions to serve as feathered targets for wealthy ‘guns’. Shockingly, a government spokesperson has announced that Labour intends to actively promote the shooting of game birds. We hope to make a big feature of this fact during the week of action.

Anti-Vivisection Campaigns

The new Oxford Animal Testing Laboratory remains quiet at present with no building work in progress. We are uncertain if any vivisection related work is going on inside the laboratory. The temporary fencing with barbed wire still remains in place. The SPEAK Campaign continues, please visit the website http://www.speakcampaigns.org/ for the latest information and details of forthcoming days of action. The regular weekly demos as allowed by the injunction, continue on Thursdays outside the laboratory in South Parks Road from 1pm to 5pm. For campaigners not on e-mail, the next demos are scheduled as follows:

19-21 September – Oxford Alumni Weekend, 3 days of demos, meeting points and times to be announced. For information contact 0845 330 7985, mobile 07906 497317. [Oxford Alumni are those who were once students at the university. The Alumni weekend is a series of events (talks, lectures, walks, tours and many more activities) open to all those who are Oxford University alumni and is basically a chance for members to amuse themselves, rub shoulders with each other and try to make useful contacts. The university gets a lot of donations from the alumni and therefore likes to entertain them in the hope of getting cash. Keep your diary free and join us in letting those attending the weekends events learn exactly what Oxford University does with it's money - spends it on constructing and running an animal torture lab.]

26-27 September -, Degree Days Demos, The Exam School, The High Street (corner of Merton Street). Meet from 1030 or ring 0845 330 7985, mobile 07906 497317

The Hurtful Herbal Essences Campaign coordinated by Uncaged Campaigns asks the public to send the printed postcards to Procter & Gamble informing the company that they will not buy the product which inflicts pain and suffering on animals for the sake of trivial cosmetics. You can also go further by only buying products that are not tested on animals. Uncaged are also distributing vouchers supplied by LUSH to the public who send in the separate Uncaged pre-printed postcard.

International News

Austrian Campaigners Imprisoned without Charge http://www.austriasolidarity.com/ On May 21 2008 masked and armed officers of the Austrian elite squad WEGA broke into homes and offices of NGO workers and organisations at the crack of dawn. Since that day, 10 people arrested in the raids have been detained in remand custody without being charged for specific wrongdoings. Austrian and international organizations and individuals are extremely concerned about the arbitrary way in which these activists are being treated. A string of human rights violations against these animal protectionists has caused outrage and strong criticism towards Austrian authorities from the international community and concerned Austrians.

Latest News (3/5/08) – All 10 prisoners have been set free.

Diary Dates

23 August – Leighton Buzzard Street Collection for Animal Aid 9am – 5pm (Organised by Jill Meade 01296 481711)

30 August - Rugby Street Collection for Animal Aid 9am – 5pm

September – Viva! Veggie Month, theme Biodiversity

6 September – Berkhamsted Street Collection for Animal Aid, 9am – 4pm

7 September – London Vegan Festival, Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, near High Street Kensington tube station. Open 11am – 8pm

13 September – Viva! Veggie Month stall outside The Food Centre, CMK 10am – 5pm

13 September - Viva! Veggie Month stall, High Street, Stony Stratford 10am – 2pm

17 September – Veggie World monthly meal from 7.30pm

20 September – Anti-Shooting Stall, Stanier Square, Bletchley 10am – 4pm

27 September – Anti-Shooting Stall, outside Somerfield, Newport Pagnell, 9am – 12.30pm

27 September – Anti-Shooting Stall, outside Waitrose, The Food Centre, CMK 1.30pm – 5pm

3 October – Stall at Freshers Fayre, University of Bedfordshire, Luton 10am – 3pm.

4 October – Hemel Hempstead Street Collection for Animal Aid, 9am – 5pm

11 October – Anti-Vivisection Stall, Waterborne Walk, Leighton Buzzard, 10am – 4pm

15 October – Veggie World monthly meal from 7.30pm

17 October – The Centre:MK Community Desk in Crown Walk, 9am – 6.30pm Theme – Veggie/Vegan

18 October – Aylesbury Street Collection for Uncaged. 9.30am – 4.30pm

25 October – Harpenden Street Collection for Animal Aid, 10am – 4pm

1 November – World Vegan Day November – Animal Aid’s Vegan Month

8 November – Vegan Month stall outside The Food Centre, Central Milton Keynes

19 November – Veggie World monthly meal from 7.30pm

22 November – St. Albans Street Collection for Animal Aid, 9am – 5pm

30 November – London Cruelty-free Christmas Fayre, 10am – 5pm

10 December – Veggie World Christmas meal from 7.30pm

20 December – Central Milton Keynes Street Collection for Uncaged, 10am – 4pm