OneKind works to protect animals throughout the UK, and beyond. But being based in Edinburgh, we do like to celebrate our Scottish background from time to time.
Today – St Andrew’s Day – is one of those times. For many years, our sister charity the St Andrew Animal Fund provided support for animal welfare projects and research around the world, and has now merged into the wider OneKind community.
On this Scottish celebration day we’re also looking forward to another special date. OneKind would like to invite you to join us at the launch of our centenary with a Burns Night in January 2012, celebrating the Scot we consider as our patron poet.
2012 is OneKind’s centenary. We might have gone through many changes since the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Vivisection was founded by the Ivory Sisters and Nina, Duchess of Hamilton, but over the last hundred years we have campaigned tirelessly to save animals’ lives across the UK and Europe.
And Robert Burns, Scotland’s patron poet and Bard, has inspired our work from the very beginning. Many of our early annual reports feature the portrait above of Robert Burns, and the notable line from To a Mouse: “I’m truly sorry man’s dominion, Has broken nature’s social union.”
As a lover of nature and an observer of people, Robert Burns wrote beautiful poetry and songs that capture the OneKind vision of a world in which people live harmoniously with animals and treat them with compassion, because they value and respect them.
It seems fitting then, as we celebrate 100 years of history, to host a OneKind Centenary Burns Night and look forward to the next 100 years of challenges for animal protection inspired by a poet who told the startled mouse in his field that he was “... thy poor earth-born companion, An’ fellow mortal!”
So please come along, “tak’ a cup o kindness”, and celebrate Scotland’s national poet to launch our centenary at the Apex International Hotel on Edinburgh’s Grassmarket on Thursday 26 January 2012. Tickets are £50 for a three course vegetarian/vegan meal with wine, music and entertainment.
We’ll keep you up to date with the programme as soon as it’s announced, but places are limited and going fast. You can purchase tickets by Paypal, email communities@onekind.org or phone 0131 225 6039 to book your place.