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

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.

Roxy Pope and Ben Pook

Chris Williams sanctuary volunteer

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

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

that people are thinking of them and their hard work. There has been a good uptake from key workers, who have been appreciative of the gesture.

Ant also decided to donate a portion of his profits to coronavirus support. Ant says, “I’m keen not to pull focus from those making a real difference. For me, this isn’t about using the pandemic as an opportunity for self-promotion. I just wanted to make a difference.”

Shalom Lloyd founder and Managing Director of Naturally Tribal Skincare

Shalom’s son Joshua was born with severe eczema, which led her to seek a natural remedy. Shalom tapped into her African roots and started making products in her kitchen, incorporating the ingredients which were used on her as a baby. Naturally Tribal Skincare was created based on the values of natural ingredients, veganism and ethical sourcing.

“Covid-19 has affected everything,” Shalom says. “From a business point of view, we had named 2020 our ‘rocket year’! We had a lot of exciting plans. However, the pandemic is an opportunity to practise what you preach. We’ve tried to build a company that cares, so it’s at times like this that those values come to life.”

Naturally Tribal Skincare has been donating their products to NHS frontline workers, many of whom are experiencing cracked and sore skin from continual handwashing. Shalom says, “I started the company to help people with conditions like dermatitis and psoriasis. To know that the properties of our products can help NHS nurses is fantastic.”

Paul Youd new vegan runner

You may remember Paul, 82, from his involvement in our Vegan and Thriving campaign. Paul is part-way through a challenge to complete one million press ups between the ages of 80 and 90, all in a bid to show how fit and healthy older vegans can be.

However, lockdown inspired Paul to think up another challenge. Having no running experience, Paul decided to build up gradually using a small track he set up in his garden. He then set himself the challenge to run 100 km in 10 days, all to raise money for Dean Farm Trust animal sanctuary.

Paul says, “I wanted to challenge myself and do something to help the rescued animals at Dean Farm Trust. They do such amazing work to rescue animals in need and they are really struggling at the moment, with many of their funding sources affected by coronavirus.”

Do you have any stories of vegans going the extra mile to support people and animals during the coronavirus pandemic? Email editor@vegansociety.com.

Shalom Lloyd