Pollyanna hosts Born Free’s Year of the Lion Event

As a long standing patron of Born Free, Pollyanna was delighted to host very special guest Virginia McKenna OBE, at a one-day event to mark the Year of the Lion.
On the 50th anniversary of the release of the iconic, award-winning motion picture Born Free, the Born Free Foundation have declared 2016 to be The Year of the Lion. This ongoing year of action and celebration will honour the 50th anniversary of the film Born Free and highlight the Foundation’s critical work to protect lions globally.

As a long standing patron of Born Free, Pollyanna was delighted to host very special guest Virginia McKenna OBE, at a one-day event to mark the Year of the Lion. Tickets for the event sold out completely, and Pollyanna and Virginia spent the whole day signing copies of a specially created limited edition calendar in Pollyanna’s crowded gallery (above). They were pleased to chat to visitors who had travelled the length and breadth of the UK – from the south coast to Scotland – to have the opportunity to purchase a calendar and view a specially staged exhibition of Pollyanna’s work. Thanks to a day of beautiful sunshine, guests also enjoyed the opportunity to stroll round Pollyanna’s landscaped ‘African’ gardens, while enjoying a glass of organic ‘Wild Thing’ wine – created by Vintage Roots. A percentage from the sale of each bottle goes to the Born Free Foundation. Although the event was very informal, a few presentations were made in the afternoon. Pollyanna was pleased to be able to present Virginia with a cheque for £7,500.00. She was then quite overwhelmed when Virginia presented her with a most thoughtful and appropriate thank you gift – a brass plaque which will be placed alongside a specially planted tree at Born Free’s Ensessakotteh sanctuary in Ethiopia.

The fight for the survival of lions in the wild has never been more urgent. When the film Born Free was released, 100,000 wild lions roamed free in Africa. Experts believe their numbers have now plummeted to fewer than 20,000 across the continent as their habitat dwindles and becomes more fragmented; as horrific retaliatory killings are perpetrated; and as hundreds of lions are slaughtered each year by trophy hunters in the name of ‘sport’.

The £5000 contributed at Born Free’s gala dinner in March along with the £7,500 raised through the Year of the Lion event, means that the Pollyanna Pickering Foundation has been able to donate £12500.00 in 2016 – enough to fund the building of ten lion proof enclosures (bomas) in Kenya. These are a simple, cost effective approach to protecting livestock from predation at night. When cattle and other livestock are protected from lions, the Masai do not need to kill the lions to protect their livelihood. Born Free manages a local team of technicians who are now expert at erecting bomas, – and Pollyanna and Anna-Louise have been invited to travel out to Kenya with Born Free President Will Travers to help build some of these vital structures!

“When Pollyanna and Anna-Louise told me last year that they would like to hold an event for Born Free in 2016, I was bowled over! It is not as if they haven’t already supported our work, in a most significant way, for many years. Their generosity has always been incredible.

And now, this year has arrived! It is 50 years since the film ‘Born Free’, which my husband Bill Travers and I acted in – playing the parts of George and Joy Adamson – was shown at a Royal Premiere in London. Half a century ago. In memory of that story we have called 2016, The Year of the Lion. A tribute to the beautiful and unique lioness called Elsa, and to highlight the unforeseen challenges lions now face. Killed as ‘trophies’ as well as confronting their own survival predicament. Wild territory disappearing as human population increases and the space for wild animals diminishes at an unbelievable rate.

So this beautiful day will be a unique and touching memory of an experience that changed our lives forever. Lions still fill our hearts and minds and Pollyanna’s amazing artistry brings them to life once more”
Virginia McKenna OBE