A very special Jubilee of our own

With much talk about the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations this year, what better time to reflect on a special anniversary of our own?  

As many of you will know, next year will see Send a Cow celebrating 25 years of providing support to rural families in Africa. Saturday 18th February marked the day that 25 years ago, that the idea was first born – around a kitchen table! 

David Bragg, Send a Cow founding farmer and Programme Coordinator for our work in Kenya and Ethiopia looks back at the start of something very special: 

“It’s hard to believe, that this Saturday, 18 February, marks 25 years to the day that the idea for Send a Cow was born. We were a group of Devon farmers intent on making a difference: Robert Vere, Anthony Bush, Gerald Alford, Ken Darch, Bob Trendell, Andrew Friend and myself. We met, along with my late wife Brenda, in February 1987 to have the first round table discussion at Kelland Barton, Lapford in Devon which was then my home. None of us anticipated what was to come.

"From that first kitchen table meeting in 1987, we were freighting the first cows to Uganda just over a year later. Today, we are supporting thousands and thousands of African families across seven countries.

"None of us expected that such a simple idea could turn into something quite so transformational. That first meeting is a special date to remember and next year, marking 25 years of our work in Africa will indeed be a special Jubilee of our own. I’m immensely proud to be a part of it.”

Send a Cow stopped sending cows from the UK in 1996, now buying all livestock (not just cows) in Africa. Read more about our work, which now encompasses social development, environmental protection, and sustainable organic agriculture as well as livestock husbandry.