Eastern Regional Meeting

Sunday, 16^th November witnessed the first ever gathering of animal rights organisations in the Eastern Region.  The informal event which took place at the tucked away Sedley Cross Point Community Centre in the Romsey district of Cambridge, attracted a very encouraging attendance of some fifty people.  Four members of SAFE made the journey to the university city along with representatives of groups from Suffolk, Northants, Bedfordshire, Essex, the East Midlands and of course, Cambridgeshire. Folks began to gather just before 11am and the first of several very enlightening talks began just after midday.  Greg and Natasha from SHAC introduced the meeting with a brief update on the HLS campaign, outlining its recent successes and focusing on where the emphasis should next move.  There then followed an inspiring talk by a seasoned hunt sabber who willingly imparted his twenty odd years experiences on the killing fields, before we moved on to another very enlightening talk by a high profile member of the recently formed SPEAC campaign.  A brief break was made for folks to indulge themselves in the delicious array of hot and cold veggie food and drink on offer, courtesy of the Cambridge group, before we settled into our seats once more to hear from Mike Huskisson’s Suffolk based Anti-Cruelty Investigation Group.  As always, Mike gave an extremely interesting presentation of his group’s role in fighting animal abuse, skilfully capturing the attention of his audience, and offering a Q&A session at the end.  4pm came all too soon and the time to make our way home, but I know we all left with a much stronger sense of  enthusiasm and inspiration and a real determination to work together to fight animal abuse on every front!  Our grateful thanks to Ann, our local SHAC contact, for organising the first, of what hopefully will become quarterly events.  Well done Ann!