Volunteering Coordinator, Katy Malkin, highlights the impact of The Vegan Society’s Community Network across the UK
We are extremely proud that the work of The Vegan Society is known across the UK and internationally, but did you know how much of our work is accelerated and promoted by our wonderful group of Community Network volunteers?
I’m Katy, Volunteering Coordinator at The Vegan Society and I have the privilege of working with our dedicated volunteers and staff every day. One of my favourite parts of the role is hearing from a volunteer that somebody has decided to try veganism, because of their presence at an event or just from receiving one of our campaign leaflets. I truly believe that collectively over the whole organisation, we make an immense difference!
The Community Network is our 200+ strong group of volunteers who have a passion to volunteer and publicise veganism where they live. Together, they promote our campaigns across the whole of the UK – from Belfast and Edinburgh, down to Brighton and St Austell! Being a Community Network volunteer doesn’t only mean giving out leaflets at events. One week they could be hosting a stall at their local green fair, distributing free recipe cards. The next, they might be lobbying their MP to ask for improved vegan catering in hospitals. Recently, we have been collectively emailing businesses to drop the unfair hot drink surcharge on plant milk, as part of our Play Fair With Plant Milk campaign.
We have a huge breadth of wins, from supporting people to go vegan, planting those first seeds, and influencing policy. Interested in knowing more? Read our Volunteer Impact Report 2024.
Here are some of those stories, straight from the volunteers’ mouths!
Chrys in Cornwall:
“Promoting veganism in rural counties is vital for building resilient, sustainable local economies. These regions often bear the environmental burden of intensive animal agriculture, including soil degradation, water pollution, and biodiversity loss. By encouraging plant-based practices, rural communities can lead the way in regenerative farming, improve public health, and open up new opportunities in sustainable food innovation – all while protecting the landscapes they rely on and cherish.
I’ll be attending the Vegan Fayre at Chacewater Village Hall for the second year in a row to promote veganism. I’ve also presented to the county council to promote more plant-based catering.”
Ronnie, near Kidderminster
“I think vegan outreach is vitally important for two reasons. Firstly, for each person we encourage to become vegan, there is a reduction in demand of many animals to be exploited and killed. Secondly, the more vegans we create, the more vegan politicians there will be (because some of those vegans will want to be politicians) and the more vegans there will be to vote those politicians into office, so eventually we will have a pro-vegan administration that can pass laws to end animal farming and the fishing industry and properly protect our fellow animals across the board.
“In most cases, it's not possible to know the results of outreach because we often don't ever get to talk to the people we engage with again. Over the years though, I've had quite a few instances of meeting people a second time and them telling me they're now vegan as a result of a conversation they had with me, or information I gave them at some time in the past!
“I mainly do two types of outreach in my local area. One is delivering leaflets promoting veganism through people's letterboxes, and the other is holding vegan information stalls (at community events such as eco-fairs, fun dog shows for local rescues, carnivals and family fun days in local parks).
“At these events, I offer people free vegan recipes and make sure I include information about the ethical reasons for veganism. I find the response from the public to be overwhelmingly positive, with people who come to the stall being almost always very happy to take information.
“If people express doubts or difficulty over becoming vegan, I respond in a friendly fashion and talk about why I became vegan. I can politely explain that whilst I enjoyed the taste of animal products, it was only a taste and didn't justify the exploiting and killing of our fellow animals. Plus, there are so many wonderful flavours to be found in vegan-friendly food!”
Community Organiser, Evie, handing out leaflets
Having the passionate support of volunteers helps to enrich and further our staff members’ work, too. As somebody who works with our volunteer pool every day, I benefit from their hard work constantly and know that when a task crops up, there will always be a passionate volunteer to take it on. I feel very fortunate! However, so many other staff members benefit from working with our volunteers, too.
Hannah is our Campaigns Manager, and one of the key members of staff engaging with the network. She will often ask if the Community Network can share a campaign on social media, hand out flyers or help out at larger-scale team events.
“The Community Network are instrumental in the successful delivery of The Vegan Society’s public-facing campaigns. Over the years, our dedicated Community Network volunteers have supported in various ways including handing out leaflets to encourage the public and businesses to engage with our core campaign messaging and the Society as a whole, as well as supporting with digital engagement, hosting events, emailing decision makers and much more. For example, this year the Community Network will be helping the campaigns team take their biggest campaign, The Future is Vegan, on the road – offering the public and key decision makers the chance to experience our vegan virtual reality for themselves and in the past we have seen high volumes of web traffic to our campaign recipes and resources – particularly linked to Vegan and Thriving and Live Vegan for Less. I am excited for this year and beyond and with the valuable support of our Community Network we will achieve fantastic results and work towards our shared vision of a world free from the exploitation of animals”
Alistair is our Public Affairs and Policy Manager. Because MPs have to respond to emails from local constituents, but not organisations, our volunteers are absolutely vital in engaging with MPs and other stakeholders! Alistair will often ask the network to visit their MP, write to them or sign politically-based petitions.
“The Community Network never fail to impress me with their commitment to supporting our policy work. We know that if we ask, they will not only be in touch with their MPs or political candidates, but writing excellent letters that are persuasive and focussed and really maximise the chances of a positive result. We know that because we see those results. In just the last few months, outreach by CN members has led to us having productive meetings with MPs, MPs writing to ministers and MPs attending parliamentary events. Because it is working on a brand new food strategy, there is a critical opportunity just now for the government to support plant-based foods and agriculture, and promote people eating more healthy, nutritious plant-based foods. We know that the government is also cautious, however, because of political opposition, so mobilising support in parliament is really critical. The Community Network does an amazing job of doing that, and we're incredibly fortunate to have their engagement, energy and skills.”
Our volunteers give us so much of their valuable time and energy, that I find it crucial that we make their experience enjoyable and give back to them too.
We celebrate their work in a number of different ways. The most noteworthy, and my personal favourite, is our yearly Volunteer Thank You Day. Last year, we all met up at FARS Animal Sanctuary and had a guided tour to meet the rescued animals. We also had a delicious local vegan lunch, created a shared mural and handed out free goodie bags! It was so lovely to see everybody face to face and to socialise.
People have varied reasons for volunteering with us, and so we also upskill and build the confidence of volunteers, too. I host regular online socials, so that we can all talk to likeminded vegans in a safe space. We also have a programme of live training events with various experts in our team. We’ve had presentations from our legal expert, Jeanette Rowley, who fronts our International Rights Network. Our Head of Campaigns, Policy and Research, Claire Ogley, has hosted a private webinar around effectively lobbying MPs recently. Personally, I hop on video calls 1:1 with volunteers, if they need to brainstorm outreach ideas, or perhaps want to get to grips with promoting our campaigns on social media.
Have you ever been involved in vegan outreach and campaigning? It’s so rewarding! We’d love to invite you to join our Community Network. We are an inclusive bunch with a focus on equity and diversity, as well as fully reimbursing expenses and providing physical resources. We are also happy to have a 1:1 chat with anybody with accessibility requirements.
By Katy Malkin, Vegan Society Volunteering Coordinator
The views expressed by our bloggers are not necessarily the views of The Vegan Society.
