This year, I had the pleasure of volunteering at Vegan Camp Out alongside my bestie, neighbour and partner in crime, Darrell, his family (plus Sammy) and his vegan pet-food business, Benevo.
Benevo is a 100% vegan-family-owned business selling plant-based food and treats for dogs and cats. Owned by two vegan brothers, it is independently and ethically run, with no venture capitalists and no Dragons’ Den personalities involved. The company has a genuine commitment to creating compassionate, cruelty-free products for pets/companion animals. 🌿🐶🐱
Vegan Camp Out is a UK camping festival celebrating veganism 🌱, community 🤝, animal rights 🐾 and environmentalism 🌍. It brings together talks, workshops, live music, wellbeing activities, family entertainment, activism and more than 70 stalls offering delicious vegan food 🍔 and showcasing vegan businesses 🛍️.
(This was also the launch of Benevo’s new cat-treat range, Benevo D’lishies. I am not contractually obliged to mention that the flavours are Cheese Toastie, Savoury Roast and Coastal Crunch — but I thought I would! 😸✨)
We travelled from Portsmouth to just outside Mansfield on Wednesday. Once we arrived, I helped set up the Benevo stand and provided support throughout the event, allowing Darrell to focus on speaking with customers and sharing Benevo’s range of vegan pet food, treats and related products. 🚗🛠️
I was also on doggy day-care duty, looking after Sammy. Sammy arrived with the rest of Darrell’s family on Thursday. He is an adopted rescue greyhound who joined us at the festival — and he received plenty of hugs and cuddles from other festival-goers. He was thoroughly spoilt! 🥰🐕
Doggy day-care involved taking him for walks so he could do his business, monitoring his food and water, and making sure he was happy and comfortable. This helped reduce the mental load for those speaking with customers at the stand — one less thing for them to worry about. 🚶♂️💧
Alongside helping at the stand and caring for Sammy, I took on the occasional odd job wherever an extra pair of hands was needed. At the end of the festival, I helped pack everything away before we began the long journey home. The return trip was fuelled by plenty of caffeine and some lovely vegan cake from one of the stalls. ☕🍰
This was the second time I have helped out on the stand, but my first time “officially” volunteering. I really enjoyed being part of the festival and supporting Darrell, his family, Sammy and Benevo, while meeting people and contributing behind the scenes to help everything run smoothly. 🤝😊
Thank you to Darrell for taking me along and letting me be part of the Benevo team for the weekend. It was great to support a business doing positive work for animals, people and the planet. 💚🌍