Safia Bagha and her Leicester A-LAW Student Chapter held a vegan bake sale to raise funds, and discuss animal interests on their campus. She also held a week long series of events! Read below!

‘Animal Law Week was a successful week with various interactive events aiming to give students an insight into animal law and the University of Leicester Animal Law Committee. Our first event was a table set up in our Student’s Union entrance, our goal for the table was to raise awareness about A-LAW and bring attention to our committee at the University. 

Our second event was a debate night held in collaboration with the University of Leicester Debate Society. Prior to the debate, we had arranged two motions to be discussed: trophy hunting and animal captivity. We began with animal captivity, which led us into a debate with two very compelling sides. As we spent most of the time discussing animal captivity, which involved lots of deep discussion, we ran out of time and were unable to debate trophy hunting. Many interesting points were raised throughout the debate with many students participating, leading to an engaging and thought-provoking event. Collaborating with the Debate Society proved to be incredibly successful, and the committee looks forward to working with them more often in the future.’ Continued on next slide.

Animal Law Week continued:

‘Our third event was a documentary screening. We showed The Ghosts in Our Machine, with vegan snacks provided. The documentary followed an animal rights photojournalist documenting the various ways in which animals are used in industries globally. The documentary raises important questions about animal rights and ownership over non-human animals. The film was thought provoking and brought attention to important issues regarding animal welfare and rights laws. We were also joined by a law lecturer interested in this field, Dr Joe Wills, who helped facilitate the post-film discussion. 

Our last event of the week was a trivia night with vegan pizza provided. The trivia involved random categories as well as a special category on animal law and recent updates in the animal law field. The quiz night proved to be a success with students enjoying vegan pizza and learning fun facts about animal law. 

Overall, Animal Law Week was a week filled with events showcasing the various ways in which animal law can be engaged with by students. The goal of raising awareness and bringing attention to animal law and issues within the field was achieve. The events also allowed the committee to learn about ways to improve attendance and engage students, leaving us excited for more Animal Law Weeks in the future!’

Student Ambassador, Sam Groom, organised and hosted the UK’s first animal law moot competition at City University, titled, the Cecilia Moot! 

Sam said: ‘The success of this years’ competition in engaging so many students in animal law for the first time and in bringing practitoners together to hear arguments on current issues was inspiring and entirely due to the talent and energy of all who took park!’

This competition now runs annually, internally, by a small team of volunteers at A-LAW. The registration period begins every year in September. You can find out more information on our Cecilia Moot page!

Maria-Elena Cacace ran a race to raise funds and spread awareness for animal interests.

Beliz, our Leicester Student Ambassador, hosted a bake sale on her campus to raise funds for A-LAW and to raise awareness for animal law on her campus.

‘The event was a success and the team also managed to get a hold of Lush product samples to help promote the idea of ethical testing and buying. They provided us with product samples to give away during the bake sale. It was great to see so many people interested in animal law during the event as we had lecturers and students asking questions about how we can combat issues in relation to animal rights and welfare. We also handed out some leaflets which informed the general public about the work A-LAW do.

For those of you who are thinking about fundraising, our top tip would be to just go for it! With some preparation and organisation, your event could too help promote animal law and raise awareness. We are the voice for animals so never be silent. The more people that know about the reality, the better the chance we have of securing more effective laws, for example, in relation to better animal welfare. So, if you feel passionate about this area of law then don’t feel afraid to share your passion and knowledge with the world, because you can make change happen.’

Our Student Ambassador, Helena, hosted a bake sale at her university to raise funds for A-LAW. Here’s what she said about her bake sale:

‘My name is Helena and I am a student ambassador for A Law and participation and inclusions officer at the BCU Law society. My initiative for fundraising through a bake sale was because I felt more students in the university would engage more with the event rather than just making it exclusive to certain members of the university. Through collaborating with the BCU Earth Society, we were able to make the cupcakes vegetarian which would work with my idea of trying to be more environmentally friendly. There was a lot of engagement with the students as I spoke to many law students, who had no idea that animal welfare law was a type of law in which I was able to educate them on this. I also spoke to an environmental officer and a student who was very interested in animal welfare which we had a great discussion on. The fundraiser was definitely a great way to not only raise money for A Law but to educate people on animal welfare and promote A Law as a charity as some students were curious about who we were raising funds for. All it in all it was a successful fundraiser and we raised £102.50!’