Meet the Folks!

Viva!’s network of animal campaigners includes people of all ages, backgrounds and genders. Some have been campaigning over long lifetimes, others are just embarking on their campaigning careers. You can’t generalise about these fantastic people – and you certainly can’t stereotype them. But however different in personal style they may be, what unites them is compassion, dedication and the will to stand up for those who can’t fight for themselves. Meet some of our Contacts here: find out why they got involved, what they do and what their plans are.

Jenny Bryce - Scotland

At Viva!, we know that our local campaigners have lives to live and that many are involved in helping animals in all sorts of ways. We don’t expect every campaigner to be able to support every campaign – but some of them always manage to do so anyway. Jenny from Edinburgh is one of those. Still in her early twenties, not only has she supported all our recent days of action against Tesco and Marks & Spencer but she even organised a Vegan Fair in Glasgow this summer, giving Scottish vegans and vegetarians a chance to find out more about the issues, check out the latest products and eat some fabulous food – food which she even helped to cook! She is in regular contact with Scottish politicians and the media but despite a busy life away from campaigning, never loses her sense of humour.

“From the age of three I irritated my parents with questions about animals.  I couldn’t understand why we would hurt them and didn’t believe my dinner was once a living creature.  I ate animals’ right up until I left home at seventeen.  I began as a vegetarian and after three years changed to a vegan diet.

“I was unaware of the extent of animal abuse until I read one of Viva!’s books.  It devastated me to think of the pain and fear that most animals are subjected to for human consumption, entertainment and ‘sport’. It is a basic fact that all animals have a central nervous system (humans included!) therefore feel pain and fear pain.  I still can’t understand why some humans in the face of this scientific fact tend to ignore it.

“In July 2002 I attended the Viva! ‘ban-factory farming’ march through London.  It was amazing to be with others who felt the same about animals and encouraged me to become more active.  I then joined a local animal rights group - Edinburgh Animal Rights. They were very welcoming and I helped out with info stalls and demos.  Initially I found it difficult to motivate myself to turn up for demos – I know how difficult it can be especially if you don’t enjoy excess attention – but it is easier for us to spare a few hours of our time, even it we do feel uncomfortable, than it is for the millions of animals who are suffering silently every day of their lives.

“Edinburgh Animal Rights has now metamorphosed into a new group called EVA – Edinburgh Voice 4 Animals.  I intend to help with demos, information stalls and press releases in the future and hope to help others who want to get more involved in campaigning or who want support in changing to a vegetarian/vegan diet.”

Margaret Gibbins - Devon

Margaret Gibbins is 65, lives in Cornwall and walks with the aid of a stick. Like so many other people, it was the live export of calves ten years ago that first spurred her into action.

“I heard about these poor calves and sheep being shipped out and the demonstrations being held at Plymouth’s Millbay docks to try and stop them. Although extremely nervous, I went along and stood way back in the crowd. Gradually I edged forward as I realised what it was really about - a group of ordinary people coming out of their private, self-contained little boxes, finding their inner-voice and strength and getting out there.”

Margaret found a voice louder than many, dumped the flower arranging circle, equipped herself with a secret camera and helped make two undercover videos exposing the cruelty at livestock markets. The videos ended up being shown on national TV. Although always terrified at the thought of going into a farm, market or dock and often needing physical help from colleagues, Margaret still does it: “When I get there I try not to show any emotion or look into an animal’s eyes because it can crack you up and you want to rescue them all. But no matter how hard you try to avoid seeing it, you always spot one poor creature who’ll forever haunt you.”

She found plenty to haunt her at Newham farm, Penzance, a sickening pig slum which featured in our Pig in Hell video. It contained animals kept in almost total darkness, maggot-riddled, rotting piglet corpses, mounds of dead adult pigs and the dreadful scene of a mother pig incarcerated in a farrowing crate and haemorrhaging profusely into the gangway.

Margaret went back with her camera time after time, at night and in the day time in all weathers, over a period of 18 months. Although our complaints were ignored by all the official bodies who are supposed to protect animals, we were able to make life so difficult for the owner that eventually the place was closed down. Margaret’s persistence won through.

Why, with a husband, three children and six grandchildren, does she do these things?

“Once animal rights is in you, you can’t stop. There’s so much to be done. The realisation of what you’re up against has had me crying in the street but going into markets and farms and getting video footage brings home to people the reality of animal abuse. It is a journey of learning and although some people don’t make the journey at all, once you start on it you can only go forwards”.

Martin Fox - Exeter

What’s wrong with men? There are a lot of potential answers to that question but the reason we ask it is that far more women are vegetarian and involved in animal activism than men. We all have our own theories about this but one possible reason is that it isn’t traditionally “manly” to be seen to care about animals. Fortunately, however, there are an increasing number of men who aren’t ashamed to be compassionate and who recognise that there’s nothing manly about standing by while others suffer. Martin is one of Viva!’s most effective local contacts, representing Exeter Friends For Animals who are an active and dedicated group. EFFA recently organised a very successful Veggie Festival in the centre of Exeter involving talks, the opportunity for people to buy veggie and vegan products and – best of all – taking the message to ordinary people out shopping on a Saturday afternoon.

“Can it really be all those years ago since, as a younger man I made the decision to go vegetarian? I remember getting quite excited when a restaurant offered a vegetable lasagne instead of an omelette or cheese salad. The endless amount of time my then girlfriend and I spent trying to do something interesting with Sosmix! And wondering how many times a week you could eat Beanfeast spagbol. I knew though, that I didn’t want to be a participant in animal suffering and death just for an unnecessary taste on my plate.

“Information is the key. When, after many years of passive vegetarianism I decided about six years ago, to find out what more I could do to help animals ( and meet more like minded people ) I started to write letters to the local press, attended meetings of local groups and joined Viva! The wealth of well researched information available immediately led me to the next step of a totally animal free diet.

“Now, as a Viva! local contact and joint coordinator of Exeter Friends for Animals (EFFA), I get great satisfaction from sharing knowledge and communicating with prospective new vegetarians and animal activists at our monthly information stalls in the centre of Exeter. It’s so easy to start campaigning, even if you can only spare the occasional hour or two, and importantly, only involving yourself initially with activities with which you feel comfortable.

Becoming ‘Animal Active’ is immensely rewarding ( and addictive ) and it’s so good to be amongst like minded veggie friends. Come and join us. We really do make a difference.”

Joan Court - Oxford

If there is a typical animal rights background, it’s not Joan Court’s. Born in Knightsbridge to a very upper-middle-class family, Joan’s kinship with animals began at an early age when she wanted to live with the wolves. By the age of 16 she was a solitary vegetarian.

Joan has spent much of her life as a nurse and a child protection officer and is quietly proud of this and her other achievements. At 59, she won a place at Cambridge, where she now lives, and gained a degree in social anthropology. Her autobiography – In the Footsteps of Gandhi – is fascinating and beautifully crafted.

“This is the way forward. Gandhi was a master at it and when democracy has been so trampled, civil disobedience is the answer”.

Currently, Joan is determined to stop the building of a primate research laboratory at Oxford University and recently attracted headlines by holding a two-day fast at the construction site. “At my age, I just don’t care and will do what is necessary for the animals.”

“My life is magic and I love the excitement and camaraderie of demonstrations and protests. I use my age for the cause – I look respectable, I sound respectable and by any standard I am very elderly

“For me there is nothing as important as acting for animals. The fact that people can inflict suffering on these defenceless creatures demeans all humankind”.

Joan says that her life has been like a Chekhov novel. Well, another chapter is about to unfold as she boards Paul Watson’s Sea Shepherd and sails north this winter to stop Iceland from resuming whaling. “And I hate the cold!” TW

Holly Maguire - Sussex

Holly is the kind of campaigner who puts the rest of us to shame – and she’s only 13! Her campaigning CV includes writing letters to the press and supermarkets, speaking at Viva!’s national march against factory farming, taking part in demonstrations and distributing leaflets. She has investigated the sources of the meat served in her school canteen and raised money in sponsored events. She’s the living proof that not all “kids today” are only interested in consumer products and celebrities. We confidently expect her to be running Viva! in twenty years’ time – you heard it here first!

“I am 13 years old. I became a vegetarian when I was ten, when I read a Viva! leaflet about factory farming. I was disgusted at the conditions and the next time I was offered meat I couldn't face eating it. After that I found it easier to refuse meat and I never really wanted to eat it. I also became involved in fighting other causes such as vivisection, and felt compelled to raise money for charities such as Viva! and Animal Aid to help stop cruelty to animals. Me and my friend Charlotte held demonstrations and did sponsored events. It is a very rewarding experience, especially on marches when you are among so many like-minded people.”

Check out Viva!’s Youth Campaigns

Check out the full list of Viva! Contacts here to see who is in your area.

If you’re interested in becoming a campaigner for Viva!, just get in touch!