Do you really need to hurt me?

A passionate animal lover since childhood, Jane  spent the last 25 years as an active volunteer/ Trustee for local and national animal welfare organisations including 10 years on the RSPCA Board. 

Jane also set up Charity Days to source free training for charities, saving them an estimated £2m. 

Jane tries to live sustainably – buying reclaimed /pre loved goods & choosing greener options.

Jane became vegan in Veganuary 2018, after 30 yrs as a vegetarian but wishes she had moved earlier. 

In 2018 Jane set up Humane Being - which she runs as a volunteer - to encourage people to live in a way that is kind to animals & protects people and the planet then support them on the journey.

 A key focus for Jane is to help people understand how climate chaos, ecological crises & the extinction of species are all interlinked with animal suffering - then provide ideas for actions we can all take – like making better consumer choices, lobbying MPs and joining campaign groups. 

Jane gives talks and attends festivals to encourage people to think about the planet & animals. 

Jane, her husband & his daughter have rescue dogs, cats, pigs & chickens.

 Gavin became an environmental campaigner after attending an Extinction Rebellion talk on the climate crisis and  urgent need to act.

Gavin's main driver is his 10 year old daughter who faces a bleak future if there is no urgent change and the world continues with business as usual.

Gavin first of all went vegetarian to reduce his personal carbon footprint and then followed the natural course to become vegan - and drive his personal impact down further still.  In the process he has become deeply concerned for the welfare of animals used in industrial farming and the contribution of animal agriculture to the climate and environmental crises.

Gavin has been around the country running stalls and  helping people understand the need to make personal change - and drive for system change. He helps raise the awareness of the public from both the climate and animal welfare camps. 

Gavin comes from South Africa but has made the personal sacrifice of pledging to take no more flights - even though it means he won't see his family.

As an ex 3 times a day meat eater, Gavin is a great role -model for everyone being able to change and gives a personal perspective on how to make the journey in a passionate and empathetic way. 

  David ate meat and fish for over 40 years before a chance conversation with a vegetarian changed his whole perspective. 

He recalls the moment when he suddenly realised how much he loved animals and that he would not dream of harming one. He went vegetarian overnight and started researching animal agriculture. 

This led to him giving voluntary talks in schools on behalf of Compassion in World Farming and becoming membership secretary of Greens for Animal Protection. 

Some years later – in 2016 – he became vegan after discovering the realities of the dairy and egg industries. 

David then wrote a song called Red Red World which became a soundtrack to a film that juxtaposed our selective love of animals with the horrors of factory farming. 

A chance meeting with Peta Smith led to David meeting Jane Tredgett and discovering that the philosophies of Humane Being  were completely aligned to his own new beliefs. 

One of his new projects - Animation for Animals – involves the creation of an educational animated film. Here is some information if you’d like to know more:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dak_oTRpbg&t=42s 

    Robert is an activist for social, environmental, and animal justice. He graduated in 2017 with a degree in Politics with International Relations from the University of York and is particularly interested in the idea of a basic income, sustainable food production, and animal liberation. 

Upon turning 18, he joined the Green Party and actively engages in local politics, including supporting his local Green Councillors.

Robert has worked as a research intern for both the Basic Income Earth Network and Stockholm Environment Institute; researching ethical supply chain management in UK food systems at the latter. 

He has a history of working with animals at rescues, including as an Animal Care Assistant for the RSPCA York Animal Home.Currently, Robert is self-employed; splitting his time between volunteering, activism, and part-time work. 

In 2016, Robert finally made the connection between animal suffering and his diet and turned vegan overnight. His one regret is not awakening to animal suffering and boycotting animal products sooner. Now, Robert dedicates his time to minimising the suffering of the individuals he once consumed and exploited.

Lesley became vegetarian in 1979 but the lack of likeminded friends or meat-free foods in supermarkets left her feeling isolated in her quest to end animal suffering. With no access to the internet she had little evidence on which to base her arguments against the cruelty of farming or eating animals.

As a gym manager  ( 2001 to 2012) Lesley was heavily involved in health issues and was able to get the ‘eat less meat’ message over. But it wasn’t until 2017 when she took part in the first Hull Cube for Anonymous for the Voiceless, that she saw the full extent of the cruelty and discovered ‘Scary dairy’ which led her to go dairy free. Horrified that she’d been so naïve for so long, she realised it was lack of information that prevented people taking animals off their plates. 

Lesley volunteered for AV, Hull Anti-Fur, Hull Animal Rights Team and Compassion in World Farming  - spending many hours creating and distributing leaflets and posters. But few people seemed willing to make the change. Then in 2020 she discovered Humane Being and learned about the huge association between factory farms and planet pollution. When Humane Being launched their campaign to ‘Scrap Factory Farming’ she finally felt that she had an opportunity to  make a difference  -  not only to our ailing planet, but to the lives of at least some of our saddest animals.  

Alison first became aware of environmental damage humans do, via a  Greenpeace street stall, in the 1980’s. She joined instantly, and became  coordinator of one of the first Greenpeace support groups, while Green peace was still in a tiny office in Islington. There was no internet at that  time, so everything was by street stalls, demos, and phone calls. She  assisted with campaigns to prevent the Antarctic from exploitation by rich  corporations, to stop illegal whaling, and deep sea trawlers overfishing.  She became vegetarian after watching the incredibly distressing Animals  film 40 years ago. It showed the reality of animal agriculture, usually  hidden from public view. She remembers the feeling still. Sitting on a wall  after seeing the film, saying to herself “How can I call myself an animal  lover, and eat animals?”. It was a pivotal moment.   Alison has spent the majority of her life campaigning, working full time as  a Lecturer in Social Sciences, and looking after, rehabilitating, and re  homing rescued dogs for a small London sanctuary called Tail ends. It was run by vegans, who informed her of the cruel reality of the dairy industry.  Alison became vegan as a result 30yrs ago,.  She then became involved for the next 10years, in anti vivisection, anti  meat, anti fur campaigning .  Since then she has spent 10 years being very active in Brighton Green party,  both as Chair of the animal protection group, and a Candidate. She just  missed getting elected as a councillor, by a few votes.  About 15years ago Alison’s college Principal was looking for ways to help  his college become more “Green” , but was unsure how, so she made a  bid to him, designed a job, and was hired  as the first Green college  manager in the UK, helping other colleges in the country to start this  process. This resulted in a 25% carbon reduction for the college  In 2018, she set up Brighton XR, participated in all the Rebellions, and  was a coordinator for over a year and a half. Last summer (2021), she  retired from teaching. Since then, she has been doing voluntary work for  both Animal Rebellion, and Humane Being, working on the SCRAP  Campaign.  She lives with her partner and their two rescued dogs.   

 Keval’s love and compassion for animals was ignited during his childhood living in Kenya, witnessing some of the most majestic beings that dwell on our planet. His quest to help them began when he realised the scale of the ivory trade resulting from the murder of thousands of African elephants. But it was only after qualifying as a dentist from King’s College London, that he made the connection- realising that he was just as guilty as the poachers, while he was still  consuming animal products. The decision to transition to a vegan lifestyle was instant when he heard about the plight of cows and their babies on dairy farms. 

Since then, Keval has spent the last 10 years supporting Hugletts Wood Farm Animal Sanctuary, which ultimately inspired him to adopt five chickens rescued from battery-cage egg farms. Sharing their stories on social media has opened the hearts and minds of many who were previously unaware of the realities of ‘animal farming’. He joined the Jain Vegans Working Group to educate the Jain community on veganism, and how it perfectly aligns with the core principle of Ahimsa (non-violence). Since 2017, he has been visiting primary and secondary schools as an Animal Aid Ambassador, to give talks on animal rights and environmental conservation.  

Neville’s journey started in a lighthouse with a vision of icebergs of tofu and Dr Gregger’s book  “How Not To Die” back in 2016. Before that, he’d enjoyed consuming all that animal stuff and only had the dimmest notion that it might be an idea to cut back. Prior to his lighthouse conversion, he was neither motivated by green politics nor animal rights and even after he went from meat-eating to plant-based, the penny didn’t drop. That took a talk from Roger Hallam and an article that expressly linked climate justice, animal liberation and workers’ rights. “Animal Liberation is Climate Justice” https://newpol.org/issue_post/animal-liberation-is-climate-justice/?s=09. Looking further back, there were clues that this might happen. During his MA in English, he wrote an essay on French Feminism, where using the scene of a man selling his wife in Thomas Hardy’s Mayor of Casterbridge, it’s the depiction of horses to show how people aren’t as human, let alone humane, as they would like to believe. Also, he’ll readily admit that adopting three children has changed how he sees the world, specifically how commonsense views about what’s ‘natural’ aren’t all they are cracked up to be. So once he’d started seeing how concretely climate, animal liberation, and human rights were related, he tried contacting different organisations. But, until he spoke to Jane Tredgett, he couldn’t find one that wanted to take action against animal agriculture for as many reasons as possible. Considering problems globally / systemically, it turns out, is what gets Neville interested and is the place he goes to when considering what to do. As well as all this thinking-type stuff, he’s been working for the last 20 years on different projects that, in different ways, use digital and human technology to enhance collaboration in government, business and charitable organisations of all sizes. Currently, he’s on something of a sabbatical from this work while using his skills and experience at Humane Being to build resource and human networks to grow alternatives and challenge the future-denying culture of animal agriculture. 

Charlotte was raised a vegetarian by her parents who were actively involved in animal rights issues. They passed down their compassion for all sentient beings and Charlotte knew from a very young age that she wished to pursue a career with animals. 

Following her passion, she finished high school and undertook a course in Animal Management. 

Charlotte is currently studying a course in Animal Behaviour & Training at University after which she will be a qualified clinical behaviourist. 

She intends to follow this with a MSc in Animal Welfare Science, Law and Ethics at Winchester University. 

Over the last 5 years of animal studies, she has received insights into various animal industries; how they work, how they treat animals, and how they affect the planet. What she has seen on farms and in intensive farming facilities influenced Charlotte to turn vegan and pursue animal rights activism more avidly, including monitoring her local Fox Hunt for criminal activity. 

Over the years, Charlotte has worked in kennels and actively volunteers at a local animal sanctuary; Ren’s Rescue.

   Richard has been an environmental campaigner since 2003 when the climate and ecological emergency prompted him to begin volunteering with Greenpeace and other pressure groups. His work includes: public communications and outreach; media work; campaign management; public speaking; training activists in non-violent direct action (NVDA) and political lobbying (up to Cabinet level). Richard has extensive experience of taking part in NVDAs, mainly on climate campaigns. He also works with local and national animal rights groups.

Between 2005 and 2011, Richard ran his own business to promote renewable energy in the UK, mainly onshore wind farms. A practising primary school teacher, he often gives presentations to school and college groups about environmental issues and promotes the inclusion of environmental education in the school curriculum. 

Richard endeavours to live a sustainable lifestyle: he has not flown since 1996 and has used charity shops for many years to find ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ alternatives to conventional shopping. Vegan since 2011, he is an enthusiastic cook and takes a keen interest in the sports nutrition that fuels his running, swimming, cycling and fell-walking.