Campaigns & Initiatives

The Dispensary, through its parent community interest company Common Cause has been instrumental in various local & national initiatives. Our passion for local community has seen us help to set up and run We Are Whitby – a local community organisation and Whitby Winterfest, bringing together our local community to celebrate together leading up to Christmas, with local business and charity stalls, entertainment and a chance to get involved with others in the community.

We were instrumental in setting up and supporting the action group Action for Botton, which campaigned to help our local Camphill Community Botton Village where people with and without learning disabilities shared their lives and worked together. This way of life came under threat from directors of the Camphill Village Trust (CVT), which triggered the formation of Action for Botton to support and protect the community. After a long campaign and legal battle which has now been concluded, a community of co-workers and people with learning disabilities continue to live in and around Botton Village as Esk Valley Camphill Community (EVCC), with whom we jointly run our community bakery – Breaking Bread Bakery.

 We run Whitby Compassionate Food, the local support group for Compassion In World Farming ( CIWF), a global charity campaigning to end factory farming and the live export of animals. Our group has campaigned on these issues through awareness raising and fundraising in our shop to going out on the streets to give out leaflets and get signatures for petitions.

We also support Crustacean Compassion, an award-winning organisation campaigning for the humane treatment of decapod crustaceans, such as crabs and lobsters which are currently subject to cruel handling and slaughter due to a lack of protection in animal welfare legislation.

We raise awareness and fundraise for various other campaigns and organisations, please see section below.

Campaigns We Support

• Campaign for Real Care
• Campaign for Real Medicine
• Compassion In World Farming
• Crustacean Compassion
• Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary
• National Antivivisection Society (NAVS)
• SPANA – Global Help for Working Animals
• Humane Society International
• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
• Fight for Whitby
• Greek Animal Rescue
• Sheep Sanctuary

Through our member mailing list we bring awareness and calls to action relating to animal welfare & environmental issues in addition to local people in need of support, and invite our members to take part in local events.