Octobear Festival 2014

Our fist Octobear Festival last night at Norman’s Coach and Horses was a great success.  We raised about £1200 for our Nanning Bear Fund and everyone had a great time as well.  The delicious 3 course vegan or vegetarian meal and wine, as well as the room hire, were provided free of charge by the very generous owner of the pub Alastair Choat, and the team who looked after us all night was just amazing and made the whole evening run very smoothly.

Octobear Festival 2014

Amanda’s presentation about her work as a bear manager in Chengdu and her visit to Nanning was fabulous and gave everyone a great insight into the work on the ground at the sanctuaries. It also showed us how all those kind and generous donations help the bears and how the lives of the Nanning bears have already improved massively despite them still living in their farm cages.  They now have constant access to water, nutritious food and medical care and the enrichment they need to keep their intelligent minds active.

A special bonus were pictures and news of our London Bear Ronnie aka John who Amanda met and spoilt rotten when she was in Nanning. This picture of Ronnie aka John was taken on Amanda’s visit and appeared on Animals Asia’s website last week

Ronnie aka John

Last but definitely not least, a big thank you to everyone who donated prizes for our raffle, which raised about £300 of the total.

If you ever find yourself in Soho please make sure to stop at Norman’s Coach and Horses.  The food is delicious, all vegetarian or vegan, and the atmosphere great.  It’s still a proper pub which hasn’t been modernised and doesn’t have a TV screen in the bar so people actually talk to each other.