dear supporters

Goodness me, the things I do for chickens! Straight off the bat I want to make it clear that I’m not entering a prima donna phase in having my photo, with the gorgeous Clarice, on the front cover! However, when my lovely colleague Andy started talking about how a photoshoot could help him gain media attention for the charity, it didn’t take more than a minute to succumb.

That out of the way, onto the important bits and we have BIG NEWS in bucketfuls in this issue. Where to start? We have two incredible interviews with Giovanna Fletcher and the Archbishop of Wales – both these kind ladies have our hens and talk from the heart about the impact they have on their lives.

We will be celebrating our 21st BIRTHDAY on 15th April and, as you know, we love any chance to celebrate, so have a raft of prizes for you including the chance to WIN a £200 Fortnum & Mason voucher!

Onto our vision and strategy to take the charity to the next level... and let me just whet your appetite by reminding you a few years ago we changed our charitable objectives to include helping hens WORLDWIDE. You already know that we help hens in France; our wonderful affiliate Champs Libres aux Poules, has helped more than 130,000 and we have news of other places we are now helping to make a difference. You can read more on pages 14 to 17.

I’m pleased to bring you a brief, but very important update on our campaign to help quail – across the world – and report back on our hens as therapy in prisons work; suffice to say it is flying!

As always we have gorgeous photos to share, heartwarming stories of your hens and so all that’s left is to say one GREAT BIG THANK YOU to all of you who are helping us to achieve all that’s inside.

Warmest wishes Jane