Kindness and cruelty-free living with Oldhams Church

Back in December, a supporter got in touch to let us know that Oldhams church was using a donkey in their Christmas festivities. We contacted the vicar of Oldhams Church, who was compassionate and open-minded, and we had a long discussion about animal ethics and the community he serves.

Oldhams Church is part of the Antioch Network, which ‘plants’ churches in neighbourhoods experiencing social deprivation.  Oldhams Church is the oldest church in the network, at 8 years old, and is Church of England.

We suggested coming along and doing a vegan cooking demonstration for Oldhams Church community, including how to cook plant-based meals cheaply and easily. The vicar, his family and the community very kindly welcomed us with open arms.

We spent the morning cooking big vats of vegan bolognese and chilli to eat with the community later in the day. After the Sunday service, Gary, one of our incredible school speakers, delivered a fantastic talk about veganism, and a demo on how to cook a vegan spaghetti bolognese. We all ate and chatted together – including our top recommendations for vegan treats! We also created ‘takeaway bags’ for people to take home, which included ingredients, vouchers kindly donated by VFC and The Meatless Farm, and recipe cards.

Going forwards, the church has started using vegan alternatives at their events, and is considering what other moves they can make towards cruelty-free living.

We had the best time and are very excited to keep working with this wonderful community for the benefit of both humans and animals. Thank you so much to Oldhams Church for their immense kindness, and to our wonderful school speaker Gary.