A Day In The Life: Juliet Gellatley

Juliet is founder & director of Viva! – the biggest vegan campaigning charity in Europe. Viva! launched in 1994, joined by Viva! Poland in 2002.

Juliet has created and launched numerous campaigns on the impact of what we eat on animals, the planet and our health. She has also investigated many farms – often the big names - and exposed the devastating cruelty. She is the author of several reports, guides and books and producer of the award-winning HOGWOOD: a modern horror story documentary on Amazon Prime. Juliet has given many hundreds of talks, radio, Podcast and TV interviews.

Juliet has a degree in Zoology & Psychology and is a qualified nutritional therapist.

About Viva!

Viva! is the UK’s leading vegan campaigning charity, specialising in undercover investigations and high-profile animal campaigns. Founded in 1994 by Juliet Gellatley, we have spent more than 25 years creating a kinder, more sustainable world for humans and animals alike.

Find out more: viva.org.uk

6:30am

Lily jumps into bed, licks my face and collapses on to me for her routine five minute belly rub. Then, as usual, off she trots - her happy, me awake!

Lily!

8:00am

Force myself out of bed. Was catching up with friends til’ 2am and now pay the price! Lily needs a walk and I need a cuppa!

9:00am

Sit down in my home office to do three radio interviews to launch Viva!’s new Save a Baby campaign. They are all 10 minutes long and enjoyable. I’m very at home promoting veganism on the airwaves! The presenters try to steer the interviews to be mainly about health and I steer them back to talk about the fact that a billion baby animals are killed each year in Britain – none of them want to die. These are not the actions of a civilised nation! But going vegan is easy and to be embraced. You get the picture!

Juliet in the office at home

10:00am

Try to wake up Finn, one of my sons who wants a lift to the train station with me – he’s going back south to university (finally). He’s suddenly gone deaf – I try loud music, meowing, nothing works! Get Lily on the job – he’s much less grumpy with her. Make us both vegan sausage and mushrooms on toast for breakfast and leave a dinner for my other son, Jazz to heat up. Cram a small case and get ready to travel to Stockport.

I like the train – get to read in peace! Plus this time, I write a short speech for the next day and make a note of what I’ll say for the campaign launch for social media live vids.

Juliet's son Finn with Lily

3:00pm

Meet with two trustees in Stockport and have an exciting brain storm about the relaunch of Vegan Now! – a campaign that made a big splash in every national newspaper on its launch in 2019. We discuss ideas for the launch of a futuristic new video, the Oracle in Bristol. It is a new approach to showing what will happen if the world doesn’t go vegan! But also, helps people change. And we agree the budgeting of our campaigns team running a vegan burger van city tour with Vegan Now! events.

6:00pm

Go to launch the Save a Baby billboard campaign in central Manchester and give another radio interview. We have over 40 billboards across NW England reaching over 10 million people. Do a photo call with some lovely volunteers who give up their time in the incessant rain! We are in luck and the brewing storm holds off its downpour for half an hour while we do Insta and Facebook live videos.

Juliet in front of one of the prominent 'Save The Baby' campaign bilboards

8:00pm

Looked forward to this! Eat at the fabulous vegan restaurant, the Allotment in Manchester with Laura, Viva!’s campaigns manager. We discuss a potential TV campaign – if we can raise the funds! And then reeeeelax!

6:30am

Rise ‘n’ shine! Prepare for a train to Birmingham, where I jump off and run to Centenary Square to give a 15 minute speech at the start of the 2nd City Animal Rights rally and march. It is organised by Ray Williams who I enormously respect. He organises vigils outside the appalling Hogwood pig farm in Warks, that supplied Tesco. Our expose of both feature in the Hogwood documentary. I then run for another train and on to my next meeting.

HOGWOOD

Watch Hogwood trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_kHNUwm3Yw

Thumbnail from Hogwood Trailer