In the latest of our Guest Blog series, Martin Keane from OneKind tells about a year of change for the Edinburgh based charity.
2010 has represented a year of monumental change for OneKind.
The organisation began this year as Advocates for Animals, but it was clear that something unique was being born.
The charity was set to take the lead in building an inclusive movement of compassionate people, who could demonstrate their support for animals through the most simple lifestyle choices.
On October 10th 2010 (10.10.10), Advocates for Animals became OneKind.
Throughout August, September and October, the organisation led a campaign focused on a viral film.
Trailers, Easter eggs and hints galore were shared across social media, leading to great speculation over the nature of the production. They’re Here was shrouded in secrecy and very closely guarded at OneKind Towers, with nobody outside of the charity aware of what it was.
The project was linked to cinema icons such as Spielberg, J J Abrams and Mark Hamill. The sci-fi community were on tenterhooks; desperately decoding messages, hunting for clues and pestering studios.
They just had to know who was behind these scratchy trailers, promising the latest alien invasion movie….it had to be J J Abrams’ “Super 8”, didn’t it?
The release of They’re Here ushered in the new era for OneKind. The film centred on the realisation by several individuals, that we are not that different to animals, a message conveyed by an HG Wells style hoax news broadcast.
Animals are sentient beings just like us, they think, they feel, they have amazing abilities and they should be treated with compassion.
The film helped OneKind reach a brand new audience, winning converts from the Sci-fi community.
OneKind has expanded the team, focusing on the delivery of our five programmes of work.
Traditional campaigning is no longer enough; a more holistic approach is the order of the day.
These programmes will help shape a dynamic movement, pushing forward a significant shift in the way people interact with animal welfare. OneKind movement is diverse and will continue to grow.
The five programmes comprise lifelong learning, lifestyles and behaviours, policy and legislation, knowledge building and movement building.
Through policy and legislation we will continue our important campaigning work – after a short Christmas break we will be continuing our challenge to the Scottish Government to end snaring.
However, we feel it is through some of our other programmes that we will be able to help animal-friendly lifestyles reach the level of awareness which Fairtrade has gained.
OneKind will be at the forefront of this movement, creating a better world for all the animals.
Us included.
Martin Keane is Movement Builder at Edinburgh based charity, OneKind.
