St Francis and St Hubert Awards

Our annual St Francis and St Hubert Awards honour exceptional individuals who have made outstanding contributions towards advancing animal welfare and status in human society. In particular, the St Francis Award recognises individuals who have dedicated their lives to improving animal welfare and advancing animals’ status in human society. The St Hubert Award recognises individuals who have given up activities that exploit animals to become examples of compassionate living.

ABOUT ST FRANCIS AND ST HUBERT

St Francis of Assisi

St Francis of Assisi is well known as the Patron Saint of Animals. He lived between 1181 AD and 1226 AD.  He preached to the animals and, legend has it, persuaded a wolf to stop attacking the people of Agobio. He founded the Franciscan order of monks which was given Papal approval in 1209AD. He referred to everything in nature ‘Brother’ and ‘Sister’, including ‘Brother Sun’ and ‘Sister Moon’.

St Hubert

St Hubert lived from 656 AD to 727 AD. He lived in the Ardennes as a hunter.  One Good Friday when everyone else was at Church, Hubert was hunting in the forest, persuing a magnificent stag.  Suddenly, as the stag turned round, a crucifix appeared between his antlers and a voice told Hubert to follow the Lord.  Hubert gave his wealth to the poor and studied for the priesthood, living a holy life, fasting and praying.  In 708 AD he became Bishop of Liege. The St Hubert Award recognises those who, like St Hubert, transform their lives to help animals.

St Hubert has been inaccurately described as the patron saint of hunters when he became honoured by sportsmen as the originator of ethical hunting behaviour. This is a fallacy as he renounced hunting after he had his vision. In fact, his hunting life had been seen by God as an unholy life, which would lead him to hell. Indeed, in the Middle Ages, when St Hubert became a priest, clergy were forbidden to hunt and, if they did, they would have to take penance [The School of Compassion by Dr Deborah Jones, Gracewing 2001].


AWARDS 2021

CCA’s St Francis and St Hubert Awards were presented to Juliet Gellatley  and Randal Plunkett by CCA Chair, Prof. Clara Mancini at an awards ceremony held on Saturday 6th November 2021 at the Rembrandt Hotel in Kensington, London. 

The St Francis Award recognises individuals who have dedicated their lives to improving animal welfare and advancing animals’ status in human society. The St Hubert Award recognises individuals who have given up activities that exploit animals to become examples of compassionate living.

From left to right: Chris Fegan (CCA CE), Juliet Gellatley, Randal Plunkett and Prof. Clara Mancini.

St Francis Award 2021 – Juliet Gellatley

Juliet Gellatley is the founder and director of the UK’s leading vegan campaigning charity Viva! and its sister group, Viva! Poland. Juliet went vegan in her twenties (having been vegetarian since her early teens), when she witnessed a male calf being torn away from his mother to be killed as the industry’s trash and resolved to dedicate her life to saving animals. After spending eight years campaigning for, and then directing, the Vegetarian Society, she left to form her own charity, Viva!, determined to show the world the brutal reality of factory farming. Since then, Juliet has conducted countless undercover investigations into factory farms, gaining extensive media coverage and numerous accolades. Her passion for campaigning still burns strong and, in this regard, a recent accomplishment is the creation of the award-winning documentary Hogwood: A Modern Horror Story, which is available to watch on Amazon Prime and launching on Netflix next spring. Juliet has initiated countless campaigns on all aspects of veganism, authored three books, multiple guides, and given hundreds of talks and made hundreds of media appearances.

Viva! is the UK’s leading vegan campaigning charity, specialising in undercover investigations and high-profile animal campaigns. Founded in 1994 by Juliet Gellatley, Viva! has spent over 25 years creating a kinder, more sustainable world for humans and animals alike. The charity’s work is divided into four main areas:
Viva! Animals launches dynamic campaigns to expose factory farming – an atrocious industry which has taken over meat, dairy and egg production.
Viva! Planet highlights how livestock farming is destroying our planet and how it is at the heart of the climate crisis.
Viva! Health supports people on their journey into veganism, making scientific information accessible for everyone, creating easy to follow guides on food and health and combating misinformation about health and nutrition.
Viva! Lifestyle shows how positive and easy it is to go vegan, and includes the popular Vegan Recipe Club, V30 and V7 programme.

St Hubert Award 2021 – Randal Plunket

Randal Plunkett is an award-winning Irish film director and producer from Dunsany, County Meath, Ireland. He was brought up in the Plunkett family’s ancestral home, the historic Dunsany Castle. Growing up surrounded by 900 years of family history and a sprawling collection of art and antiquities has left an indelible impression on Randal’s work, which critics have described as ‘lush, macabre, gothic, and beautiful’. The Plunkett family boasts a long history in Ireland and many celebrated ancestors, including: St Oliver Plunkett, Ireland’s famous martyr and saint who perished at the hands of the British and whose head still resides in Drogheda today; Sir Horace Plunkett, cofounder of the Irish agricultural Co-operative movement; Randal’s great-Grandfather John Merton Plunkett, Lord Dunsany, esteemed play-write and Godfather of fantasy literature; Edward Plunkett, Randal’s father and respected modern artist. Upon the passing of Edward in 2011, Randal inherited the title of 21st Lord Dunsany and subsequently founded Dunsany Nature Reserve, Ireland’s first rewilding project which takes a vegan approach to rewilding.

The Dunsany Estate, which dates back to the 11th century and is located around 35 kilometres northwest of Dublin, covers approximately 1700 acres (650 hectares), of which about 750 acres (300 hectares) are now being rewilded as the reserve. There are also around 550 acres (220 hectares) of forest, with several springs and streams flowing through marshy areas. The land that is not forested or being rewilded is used to grow crops. The soil is very fertile, so the income from agriculture is enough to support the estate, along with the income from the film production facilities based on the estate. In 2014, all animal agriculture was abandoned and all fields and forests that once contained farm animals were left to rewild. There is a lot of wildlife on the estate, from foxes, badgers and otters to owls, red deer and various birds of prey. The estate is home to a film production company, called Dunsany Productions, and every film that comes through the company has a mandatory donation of a tree to be planted on the estate.


AWARDS 2019

This year, the awards went to individuals who have gone to extraordinary lengths for the sake of farmed animals at great personal cost. 

St Francis Award 2019

The St Francis Award recognises individuals who have dedicated their lives to improving animal welfare and advancing animals’ status in human society.

Rev. Christa Blanke is the founder of Animals’ Angels, an organisation that monitors and reports on conditions in animal transport and slaughter across Europe and beyond, that fights to improve conditions, follows and accompanies them on their excruciating last journey in spirit and prayer.  Christa has dedicated many years to helping and staying with the animals through the worst time of their lives, witnessing with great courage soul-destroying realities to raise awareness of and relieve their extreme suffering.

The moving film ‘10 Years of Animals Angels Work in the Field’ was screened.


Rev. Christ Blanke (left) receiving the St Francis Award from CCA Chair Dr Clara Mancini (right).
 

St Hubert Award 2019

The St Hubert Award recognises individuals who have given up activities that exploit animals to become examples of compassionate living.

Jay and Katja Wilde have transformed the beef farm Jay had inherited through generations, into an organic vegan farm.  In spite of his cultural heritage, Jay could no longer bear to send the animals he had been rearing and caring for to a terrifying death.  Rather than selling their last hers for a very substantial profit to support the farm’s complex and risky transition, Jay and Katja made the courageous and compassionate choice to give their cows to Hillside Animals Sanctuary, allowing them to live out a safe and happy life together.

The BAFTA award winning film ‘73 Cows’ was screened.


Katja Wilde (left) and Jay Wilde (centre) receiving the St Hubert Award from CCA Chair Dr Clara Mancini (right).