Swansea Vegans

USEFUL LINKS

Swansea Vegans
on Facebook

Eat Out Vegan Wales
Listings of places to eat out in Swansea and elsewhere

History of Swansea Vegans
by George Barwick
(the group's founder)

Environment Centre
Local events list

Other vegan groups in South Wales (Facebook groups)

Cardiff Vegans
Carmarthen Vegans
Pembrokeshire Vegans
Newport Vegans
Vegans of Aberystwyth

National groups (UK)

Vegan Society
Vegan Life Magazine

Local vegans are active in the groups below

Vegan Organic Network
Vegfam
MCL Movement for Compassionate Living

SWANSEA VEGANS

A social, educational and campaigning group formed in 2002

We're also on Facebook, with over 1,700 members and much lively discussion. Vegans, vegetarians, or anyone interested in the vegan way of life, are all very welcome at any meetings or events, or in our Facebook group. If you'd like to go on our EMAIL LIST to receive occasional news of future events please email us at

There are a couple of Facebook sub groups:
Swansea Vegan and Vegetarian Families is for vegan and vegetarian families living in and around Swansea - "a place to make friends with other like-minded families, seek support & advice, arrange meet ups and generally chat."
Swansea Vegan Social Club (SVSC) - "somewhere for the vegans of Swansea to arrange meet ups and make friends."

Events, News & Notices

Swansea Vegan Festival 2017 (see poster opposite) is on Saturday 15th July, again at the Brangwyn Hall. The first festival, held last July, was packed out with over 3,200 people attending! William Young took a load of photos, and see too this article/interview and the festival website.

Brontosaurus Vegan Lifestyle Store (Swansea's first 100% vegan store) opened in January 2017 in Swansea's indoor market (stall 23B). Selling food, nutritional supplements, vegan sports nutrition, cosmetics, toiletries, household products and more. See their Facebook page.

Swansea City Centre's Vegan Gems Have a look at this blog post showcasing some of the businesses in Swansea City Centre that cater for vegans - compiled by the Big Heart of Swansea.

The Vegan Camp (which rotates around various parts of the UK every year) is back in our area at Horton on the Gower, 29 July - 13 August 2017. All ages, from babies up to those in their 70s. Singles, couples and families. See website.

TeenVGN Summer Camp 2017 (for 11-17 year olds) is back at Margam Park, near Swansea, 21st - 26th August.
See details here.

Swansea Vegan Christmas Market
was held in December 2016 for the second year, and was another great success. Over 2,250 attended (about 450 up on last year).
Photo opposite (by Kate Jones) shows some of the stalls and crowd. Below that, Andy Norton and Sara Williams on the Naturally Kind stall (photo by Carl Perkins).
Lots more photos of all the stalls (by William Young) can be seen here.

Urban Zen vegan cafe (2 Little Gam Street, Swansea) very sadly closed on Friday 16th December 2016 after running for a year - although the yoga centre there is continuing. The reasons for this are explained on the Urban Zen Facebook page.

Swansea Vegfest After two successful events in May 2014 and June 2015 Swansea Vegfest ran a much bigger event in July 2016 at the Brangwyn Hall, see above. Photo right shows some of the crowd in 2015 (larger than expected!) at the Environment Centre venue. Below that, the team of helpers. Deby & Karen McCloy (in the centre of that photo) were featured in the July 2015 issue of Vegan Life magazine, see below.

The Swansea Vegfest website has more photos (in the Gallery section) - and there's a Facebook page too. The Vegfest photos on the right are by Tom Fairchild.

Carmarthen Vegans hold regular meetings. They put on 'Meet & Greet' events with food and entertainment, currently three times a year.

Also lunchtime meals at the Waverley restaurant on the first Saturday of every month - and regular walks/picnics in the warmer months (usually on Sundays). Contact 07539 356791 (text only) or see their Facebook group.

Photo is from the Summer 2015 'Meet & Greet' event in July 2015, which over 40 people attended.

Eating out in Swansea
Eat Out Vegan Wales list many places for vegans to eat out in the Swansea area and elsewhere in Wales - please email them if you can help by updating or adding to any of the information they give. They have also published a free Vegan South Wales guides, as well as a very detailed guide to organising free vegan food fayres which is based on their experience over the past ten years. See also Vegan Café 4 the Day at the bottom of this page (an event organised by Eat Out Vegan Wales in Mumbles in 2012).

Vegetarian for Life are a UK-based charity whose mission is to help older vegans and vegetarians with advice and support (and sometimes small grants), whether living in a care home or in their own home. More details on their website.

Cakes

Naturally Kind Food is a small business in Swansea selling delicious vegan cakes and treats. See their website or Facebook page or contact Andrew Norton 01639 699185. The photo shows Black Forest cheesecake.

Mr Nice Pie (previously Fruits de la Terre) have stalls at various markets in Swansea and South Wales, selling very popular vegan pies, burgers, etc. See their website.

Events in general In the recent past Swansea Vegans have put on a variety of events - the usual social meetings with pot luck meals, occasional discussions/talks, picnics/walks in the summer, and so on. And now and again we've tagged along with other existing environmental-type events, or connected with other local groups. In 2011 we also showed the new Vegan Society film Making the Connection at the Environment Centre, and visited Tony Martin's forest garden in Ystradgynlais.
If anyone has suggestions about future events (or anything else), or would like to organise something, then please do get in touch.
Check our Facebook group regularly for occasional small get-togethers or other events/meetings that may be of interest. For example, some Swansea Vegans Facebook members met up at Coffee Punks in Swansea in January 2016 (more meetings are planned), and there have been occasional small meet ups in Llanelli, while others arranged a Christmas meal at Govinda's in 2014.

Information

The UK Vegan Society is the place to go for basic and more detailed information on veganism - see for example their publications & video page (which includes a useful catering guide for hospitals should you ever find yourself in one, see downloads section).

The Vegan Society's film Making the Connection can be seen online at the
Environment Films website. It's 30 minutes long, and features a variety of vegans talking about their diets and lifestyles (a chef, MP, dietitian, athlete, young mother, and several others). It's also on YouTube, where it's split into eight chapters. If you're interested in showing the film to a group of people you can get a free DVD from Environment Films (or from the Vegan Society).

Vegan Life Magazine (the first vegan magazine available on the high street) launched in 2014, and is available in WH Smith and some supermarkets. Food and recipe oriented but with features on other vegan related topics too.

Some local vegans are also active in national groups, including the Vegan Organic Network (growing food the vegan way), Vegfam (a charity based near Llandovery, feeding the hungry without exploiting animals) and MCL (Movement for Compassionate Living, based in Ystalyfera and promoting environmental veganism).

Past Events

Swansea Vegans summer picnics
Around 20 people came to our 'potluck' picnics in Clyne Gardens in both 2013 and 2014. Photo (by Robyn Godfrey) is from the 2013 picnic.

Saving the World with your Knife and Fork About 35 people attended the talk and cookery demonstration at the Environment Centre in Swansea in March 2013. Tony Wardle from Viva! gave the talk, and Helen Rossiter and Jane Easton the cookery demonstration. Photos below by Dave Martin.

The photos below were taken at the Vegan Café 4 the Day event in Mumbles in July 2012, organised by Eat Out Vegan Wales, at which Swansea Vegans had a literature stall run by George & Shirley Barwick (photo on right). Around ten volunteers from the Eat Out Vegan Wales group worked hard all day, serving an estimated 200-300 people (mostly non vegans) with free food and drinks. This was their fourth Vegan Café 4 the Day event, following on from successful days in Bangor, Aberystwyth and Llangollen in 2011/12.

SWANSEA VEGANS

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Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude - as far as is possible and practical - all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.