Page 28 - Black Velvet Magazine Issue 107

BV107 pg 28-29 Cause For Applause.qxp_BV107 pg 28 02/12/2022 17:11 Page 1

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cause for applause

A few months ago, we visited an animal sanctuary that we hadn’t visited before.
The Farm Animal Sanctuary (not to be confused with Farm Animal Rescue Sanctu-
ary) is based in Evesham in Worcestershire. Founded by Jan Taylor, The Farm An-
imal Sanctuary was established nearly 40 years ago after Jan witnessed the cruelty
that had been bestowed on the animals at a livestock market. She purchased as
many of the animals, most of which were malnourished, sick and diseased, as she
could, to save them from slaughter. The sanctuary has grown and grown, with all
sorts of animals now calling The Farm Animal Sanctuary their forever home. The
sanctuary has sheep, goats, pigs, horses, cows, hens, ducks, ponies and even al-
pacas.
This sanctuary offers visit bookings on its website, although every now and then
has an open day or weekend. The open day we went to included a special guest –
Dame Joanna Lumley DBE FRGS – who gave a talk and took photos with everyone.
Visiting the open day, we were surprised to see how many stalls there were. The
open day was almost like a mini festival. There were food and drink stalls, merchan-
dise stalls, stalls by other sanctuaries and animal activist groups (such as Camp
Beagle).
There was even a bouncy castle for children.
Joanna Lumley

Joanna Lumley’s appearance was obviously the most
anticipated. The audience sat on the grass or stood behind,
all awaiting her speech. Joanna has been a patron for
many years. She spoke out about animal cruelty and about
the sanctuary, which is now raising money in order to buy
the land they are on. The sanctuary have a vet, Josie, who
also gave a speech, and founder Jan also said a few
words. After Joanna’s talk, she posed for photos, taking the
initiative to accept donations that would go towards the
sanctuary. Attendees queued up to have a photo with the
queen of UK television.
After having our own photo with Joanna, we walked
around the sanctuary and took a few photos, as well as giv-
ing the sheep a few biscuits (luckily, we’d brought a pack
of Rich Tea!) and one of the horses some hay. We were
also quite enamoured with Twiglet the piglet, one of the
sanctuary’s newest arrivals. Twiglet loved having her belly
rubbed and enjoyed the attention.
The afternoon came to an end much too soon, we
didn’t even get to see half of the animals – but hopefully
we’ll get to visit again soon.

Visitors perusing the stalls

CAUSE FOR APPLAUSE