Volunteers
Volunteer hub Kaya Gromocki, Supporter Services Coordinator (Volunteering, Engagement and Outreach)
I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has volunteered over the past three months. Meeting lots of our enthusiastic and friendly volunteers has really helped me to settle into my new role as quickly as possible. In October I met super helpful events volunteers at VegFest London who engaged wonderfully with the public. Here in Birmingham I’ve worked with our lovely office volunteers, and over the phone I’ve chatted to lots of members of our Community Network, all of whom have been generous enough to share their stories and experiences of vegan outreach with me.
Media volunteers As the profile of veganism rises, so does the number of requests The Vegan Society receives from media outlets to give interviews and statements. This is where the assistance of volunteers comes in useful. Not only do they allow us to present the facts of veganism to as many listeners, viewers and readers as possible, but they are also able to share their own unique experiences. Being able to showcase the many and varied perspectives of living a vegan lifestyle is of great value to the movement. An excellent example of this is media volunteer Paul Youd. Our Media Officer Dominika Piasecka was very pleased when Paul volunteered to do an interview on BBC Radio Somerset for World 28 The Vegan | Issue 1 2020
Vegan Day. Paul spoke with confidence on his motivations for going vegan and the positive impacts he has seen on his health over the last 51 years of following a vegan diet. Paul was able to impress the interviewer with his account of keeping fit in later life, as he explained his goal of completing one million press-ups between the ages of 80 and 90, no doubt inspiring many listeners too. If you would be interested in volunteering for media interviews or putting yourself forward as a case study, then please contact media@vegansociety.com and we will be able to add you to our bank of dedicated volunteers who are prepared to tell their stories to the media. We are always looking for new case studies, as we often get specific requests for certain demographics, such as vegan fathers in their 40s. The more willing volunteers we have on our database the more easily we can showcase veganism as the positive life choice that it is.
Office volunteers Our volunteers are an eclectic and experienced group of all ages. Nisha Cardoza is 18, and at the end of 2019 she undertook a six-week placement in the Campaigns, Policy and Research Team. Nisha wanted to volunteer because The Vegan Society’s methods of advocating for veganism align exactly with her own. She really enjoys the political work that she does within her placement, and one of her favourite tasks so far has been analysing the manifestos of major political parties. She says, “It’s interesting to see what MPs have to say about some key issues The Vegan Society is
