VfL’s Vegan Fund – helping to improve three more lives

In the past few months alone V for Life has awarded life-changing grants to three older vegans through its Vegan Fund.

These grants are designed to support independent living, and empower older veg*ns so that they can keep living as they want to for as long as possible.

We know that the situation for older vegetarians and vegans moving into care homes is improving, in large part thanks to the success of VfL's UK List of veggie-friendly care homes. But there's still a lot of work to be done. We launched both the Vegan Fund and the Vegetarian Fund in 2010, so that older veg*ns in financial need can apply for a grant that will enable them to live independently for longer. The first grant in May 2010 was for a stairlift that enabled an individual to move out of care and back into her own home... and the grants have continued to roll ever since.

Since October last year we have awarded three grants through the Vegan Fund. The first of these funded a mobility scooter for a long-term vegan activist, John 'Maz' Marriott, who was diagnosed with M.E. in 2009. Maz has been vegan for 30 years, is author of low-budget vegan cookbook 'The Chip Butty Vegan', and hunt-sabbed from when he first became vegan up until recently when he had to stop for health reasons. Maz is dependent on a carer and a mobility scooter – and when his scooter broke he found himself mainly confined to the house.

Since his new scooter awarded by the Vegan Fund arrived, Maz has been back at demonstrations in the city centre and in muddy fields, and we were lucky enough to meet him in person at VegfestUK, London. Maz has been arrested 33 times for animal rights activism... but has yet to be arrested while on a scooter.

In December we awarded a second grant to an individual in her 80s. Stella has been vegan for over 30 years, and used to teach vegan gardening in west Wales. The past few years have been extremely challenging for Stella because her hearing rapidly deteriorated. This has left her feeling isolated from those around her, whom she struggles to understand.

When she heard about the Vegan Fund she thought it could be her solution. Stella received her new hearing aids thanks to the Vegan Fund in December. She sent us a letter just before Christmas: "After years of being withdrawn from society and nodding and smiling in what I hoped were the right places, I can now converse with people without constantly asking them to repeat themselves. It is very liberating, with my confidence boosted no end."

The most recent recipient of the Vegan Fund, Jackie, has been vegan for 14 years. Jackie has a progressive neuromuscular disability and osteoporosis, and frequently suffers from falls. She lives near the seafront, but the half hour walk is too much for her to manage nowadays – just getting to the bus stop can leave her exhausted. Jackie requested a mobility scooter through the Vegan Fund, and it will be arriving to her any day now. With this scooter Jackie will be able to head to the seafront without putting herself at risk of falls, and without even feeling the bumps.

Do you know an older vegan or vegetarian who could benefit from one of our funds? Sometimes a one-off investment like those provided for Maz, Stella and Jackie is all it takes to keep someone living independently. If you think you, or someone you know, could benefit from a grant, fill in an application form online or call 0161 257 0887 and we'll send you an application form in the post.

To be eligible for a grant you must be:

• Aged 60 or over
• In financial need (i.e. with a relatively small regular income and relatively low savings – we follow the limits used for eligibility for means-tested state benefits)
• For a grant from The Vegan Fund you must be a practising vegan
• For a grant from The Vegetarian Fund you must be a practising vegetarian

Further information

• Grants are awarded on a one-off basis. They are normally made to assist ‘independent living’, for example: to provide ramps, grab handles, minor kitchen/bathroom adaptations, stairlifts or perhaps respite care (a short stay in a care home for a person being cared for at home, to provide a break for the carer). Applications for other uses will be considered – as long as the grant will benefit one or more older vegetarians or vegans.
• Individual grants are normally subject to an upper limit of £3,000, but this may vary if the grant would benefit more than one eligible person or, at the Trustees’ discretion, if there are other extenuating circumstances.
• Each application will be judged on its individual merit by the Trustees of V for Life, whose decision is final.