Pandemic heroes
PANDEMIC HEROES Meet the people making a difference
Chris Williams and Lek Chailert (founder of Elephant Nature Park) with ENP residents Thong Ae and Faa Mai
Roxy Pope and Ben Pook vegan chefs
Chris Williams sanctuary volunteer
Roxy and Ben are a vegan couple who create beautiful nofuss recipes. To raise funds for coronavirus support, Roxy and Ben created The Lockdown Cookbook, an e-book containing ten vegan recipes made using cupboard staples. They made it available to buy from just £1 to ensure it was as accessible as possible, with 100% of the proceeds going towards charities. Roxy and Ben launched the e-book on Earth Day, sharing this message with their Instagram audience: “We feel blessed to have such an incredible following from people all over the globe, so we wanted to do something which brings our worldwide community together and unites everyone during this difficult period.” The Lockdown Cookbook raised over £7000, far surpassing the initial target.
Many animal sanctuaries are currently struggling due to a loss of funding and reduced hands-on volunteering opportunities. Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand, is a unique project which was established in the 1990s. They provide a sanctuary for almost one hundred rescued elephants from all over Thailand, as well as hundreds of dogs, cats, rabbits and many more species. Chris Williams volunteers full-time at Elephant Nature Park. He explains that since the coronavirus lockdown there has been an increase in animals coming to the sanctuary. This is because businesses who exploit elephants as part of the tourism industry are now struggling to feed them, due to the lack of visitors during the pandemic. At Elephant Nature Park the elephants are not ridden, chained or subjected to any abuse. Chris says, “Sometimes elephants are surrendered to ENP, and after they arrive we are able to cut off their chains. It’s an emotional moment for us all. At the park they can swim, wallow in mud baths, roam free, interact with other elephants and eat all the bananas and watermelons they can manage!”
Ant Wilson founder of Push Chocolate
Roxy Pope and Ben Pook
Ant is the owner of Push Chocolate, a small online business specialising in vegan protein-rich chocolates. Ant says, “I saw what people in the NHS and other key workers were going through – the sacrifices they were making, and the long hours. I thought – I’m just a small company, what can I do?” Ant decided to reduce the price of his products for key workers, just to say thank you for their efforts and to show
Issue 3 2020 The Vegan | 25
