Memorial Film Screened
A Meeting Devoted to Jill Phipps Memory
Our
meeting in February 2007 was devoted to the memory of Jill Phipps, to mark the
12th anniversary of her tragic death. Jill died outside Coventry Airport on 1st
February 1995, whilst peacefully protesting against the
live export of calves. Jill campaigned tirelessly for animal rights so when baby calves started to be flown out of the airport in her home town of Coventry, to the veal crates of Europe, she joined many demonstrations to try to stop the flights. It was at one of these peaceful protests, that Jill was crushed to death under the wheels of a cattle truck as it entered the airport.
The main attraction of our meeting was a screening of Jill`s Film, a very sad but truly inspirational film which celebrates her life. Jill`s Film was produced for the amazing 10th anniversary remembrance event in Coventry, Jill`s Day 2005 (click here for details), but has since been screened to audiences around the globe. The film was put together by Jill`s good friend and lifelong campaigner John Curtin, who introduced it for us and answered our questions. The film features footage from Jill`s childhood, the Coventry live export campaign, Jill`s funeral, interviews with her family/friends and brief scenes showing the horrific reality of animal cruelty that Jill campaigned to stop.
If you would like to see the 40 minute film yourself, you can order the DVD here or you can watch it here on Google Video.
Also at the meeting, was an exhibition
display about Jill`s life, which again, was originally created
for Jill`s Day 2005, but has since been displayed at numerous
events. The exhibition is made up of photos taken
throughout Jill`s life, from birth to her grave and
everything inbetween. Click on this image to see 2 larger
photos.
Jill`s death
touched the lives of many thousands of people at the time, and
continues to do so until this day. She had many good friends who
have kept her memory alive in various ways, including writing
tributes and poems about her. One such tribute is titled Warrior of the Rainbow, which you
can read by clicking the thumbnail image to the right. You`ll
also find a poem titled Greed Killed
Jill. Both of these short pieces of text describe
how mankind is destroying the planet & it`s inhabitants all
around us, which requires compassionate people like Jill to protect
them!! Redditch was of course the scene of numerous live exports protests in the late 1990`s. One of the UK`s main live export farms was based in Weights Lane, opposite the Abbey Stadium, Bordesley. Aside from weekly Thursday evening & Sunday protests, campaigners from across the country flocked to Redditch for several big demonstrations, including 2 national remembrance events for Jill Phipps in 1998 and 1999.
Live exports are the by product of the milk industry.
For a dairy cow to constantly produce milk, she needs to keep
having calves! The male calves are of no use to the milk
industry, so they ship them off to the veal crates of
Europe! (which are banned in the UK due to the cruelty
involved) Click
here to read more about this. Ultimately, the only way to end
live exports and all the other cruelty inflicted on `farm`
animals, is to go
vegan!! This event formed part of a Week of Action in Memory of Jill, which included film screenings in Coventry, Nottingham and elsewhere and also a memorial march and rally in Dover, where the port currently permits live exports. You can read more about these events and much more about Jill on the new Jill Phipps website, see www.jillphipps.org.uk
Date: 2007-02-11
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Last updated by kevinrd on 2007-02-11 22:38:44 )