It’s not just human mums who are important on Mother’s Day but dog mums too. This year, together with Orlydog, we wanted to celebrate dog mums with a special event: the Mutts & Mum’s Brunch at The Magazine Restaurant in the heart of Hyde Park! All whilst giving back and raising much-needed funds for a dog rescue charity close to our hearts, Animal Rescue Kefalonia (ARK) in Greece.
Our Brunch Venue: The Magazine Restaurant
For our Mutts & Mums Brunch, we were absolutely delighted to be able to hold it at The Magazine Restaurant in Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park. If you’ve read our review of the dog-friendly Magazine Restaurant, you’ll know this simply stunning venue puts sustainability at the heart of everything they do. Hence, its beautiful design, ethical ethos and perfect location in the heart of the park made it the ideal choice for our brunch. Plus, the team at The Magazine headed up by Rita and Elisa were terrific and really went out of their way to help make our event a success, so a big thank you!
A fundraising event wouldn’t be a success without the generous support of both the attendees and the brands that get involved. We were lucky enough to have some brilliant dog/dog-friendly brands who stepped up to the challenge. It was important to us to work with brands with a strong ethical or sustainable ethos and support local and small businesses; all the brands involved were fabulous, so please do show them some support…
Mutts & Mum’s Pawsome Partners
Pups were served the world’s first ready-made porridge designed for dogs to start – the fresh blueberry & coconut doggy porridge with chia & moringa, followed by a superfood main of hearty quinoa and pumpkin casserole with organic hemp protein & moringa to set them up for the day. All served in one of the innovative germ-busting HOWND Hero food & water bowls that pups got to take home too.
Beco: What’s better than a dog toy? A dog toy from Beco made from recycled plastic in the shape of one of the cool characters Fernando the Flamingo, David the Dolphin or Tommy The Turtle, all of which were a big hit amongst the pups who got to take them home alongside an always needed pack of Beco’s recycled plastic poop bags.
Beco has been leading the sustainable pack in the dog world for many years and all their products are made from natural, renewable and recycled materials wherever possible which we love.
W’ZIS: Recent newcomer to the healthy treat scene, plant-based dog treat company W’ZIS (say it out loud to understand the meaning), is on a mission to never be dull, brown or bone-shaped. It’s safe to say W’ZIS are succeeding with their mission so far! The intriguing W’ZIS Dubya Lights Chews were also on the menu for dessert, with many pups opting to take theirs home for a post-brunch treat!
Love My Human Townhouse: With pupcakes and freshly baked cookies on the doggy menu for dessert, there is only one choice for a sweet doggy treat that’s as healthy, delicious and as beautifully presented as it can be, and that’s Love My Human Townhouse in Chelsea of course (read our Love My Human Townhouse review here). Most definitely a particular favourite of Belinha’s (and mine), we knew these would be loved by all our guests.
Denzel’s: Serving healthy and nutritious snacks for dogs in plastic-free compostable packaging with a tree planted for every sale, Denzel’s have been a long-standing treat favourite of ours. Particularly after meeting doggy namesake Denzel a few years ago. Denzel himself popped by the Mutts & Mum’s Brunch to make a celebrity canine appearance and personally deliver some Denzel’s Brunch Bites and pawsome Mother’s Day cards for all the pups and dog mums at the event.
Raven Imagery: Renowned London Dog Photographer Andrew (read our review about our London Photoshoot with Andrew here) captured our special occasion on camera and did what he does best, take fantastic photos of pups. Andrew took all the photos in this blog post, and as the saying goes, a picture speaks a thousand words…
Mutts & Mum’s Special Supporters
We also had a fabulous raffle at the Mutts & Mum’s Dog Mother’s Day Brunch with prizes donated by the brands already mentioned, plus some more brands dog lovers will know and love…
Megan’s Restaurants: Much-loved neighbourhood restaurant Megan’s love dogs, so much so that they have dog beds on hand for their four-legged visitors and treats to tuck into whilst the humans dine on their delicious food. As featured in our round-up of the Best Dog-friendly Things To Do In London.
Barc London: A long-term favourite of ours and Belinha’s collar and lead of choice for dog-friendly visits around town. Barc London collars and leads are vegan leather and come in fabulous colour choices (with blush pink and rose gold a particular favourite of ours). Barc London also give back to rescue charities with every sale they make, as featured in our Guide to Brands That Give Back To Dogs.
Innocent Hound: This family-owned business in Yorkshire produces high quality, air-dried dog food and treats from sustainably sourced British ingredients, and dogs just can’t get enough of them. For a high-end quality treat for your pup, these are a great choice!
Little Wolves London: Designing stylish sweatshirts and t-shirts for Dog Mums everywhere; Little Wolves London was a natural choice for an event all about dogs and their mums. We love how the Little Wolves London clothing items can be personalised with your dog’s name (or names), making them extra special.
Soopa Pets: Soopa believes that making a slight difference in your dog’s diet can significantly affect your dog’s health and we couldn’t agree more. We love that Soopa superfood treats are grain-free, hypoallergenic, vegan and low in fat. They are also clearly labelled as to whether they are suitable for dogs with various health conditions, making it easy for all dog mums to treat their pups.
Animal Rescue Kefalonia (ARK)
ARK is home to more than 350 dogs (and quite a few cats). The shelter has minimal resources, relying only on volunteers and donations to survive. Conditions at the shelter are physically challenging, too, and it’s run by two ladies who dedicate themselves 24×7, 365 days a year to looking after the animals in their care. Basic things that we take for granted, like electricity, simply don’t exist. Whereas simple things like having enough food to feed all the animals each month is a real struggle and worry. And treats and toys just aren’t an option.
I originally discovered Animal Rescue Kefalonia (ARK) whilst on holiday in Kefalonia and then returned several times to volunteer as well as volunteering here in the UK via Animal Rescue Kefalonia UK. So I knew that supporting ARK with an event like the Mutts & Mums Brunch would make a difference where it’s really needed in a small charity like this.
We also had two pups at the brunch who had been adopted from Animal Rescue Kefalonia…Teddy and Lulu, now living their best lives in London with their mum Cristina.
Read on to see what we got up to at the Mutts & Mum’s Brunch and find out how much we raised for the pups in need at Animal Rescue Kefalonia.
A Pup’s Perspective On Mutts & Mum’s…By Bailey
We asked new pup on the block and Belinha’s co-canine event organiser Bailey from Orlydog to share his perspective on the Mutts & Mum’s Brunch…
So a few weeks ago, mum told me she and her friend Teresa of The Dogvine were going to arrange and host an event. The idea was that dogs could show our mums exactly how much we love them by treating them to a mother’s day brunch while at the same time raising money for dogs that have had a much less fortunate time than we have.
Little did I know she meant ‘we’ and not just her! As for the past few weeks, she has been working me and Belinha like dogs! We have been to planning meetings, venue visits, photoshoots, video shoots, and so much more… the list has been endless! I’m not sure this is what I signed up for; I don’t remember signing up for anything!
Well, the day finally came. I was about to put my paws down in protest and say enough is enough when we got whisked away in a car and arrived at The Magazine. It’s a stunning restaurant in a superb location right in the heart of Hyde Park and comes into its own on beautiful sunny days.
There was lots of hustle and bustle and people running around. So I decided to take things in hand and oversee the proceedings by lying down and watching them all closely to make sure they were doing everything right.
It wasn’t long before they transformed the venue into a beautiful oasis of hearts and lights ready for the Mutts & Mums to arrive.
The tables were adorned with pretty balloons and neon lights, but the best of all, a super fantastic toy awaited for all the doggies and some poop bags thanks to Beco, and lovely keepsake wooden bones for the mums.
On arrival, all the mums were offered a mimosa or juice, coffee, and pastries. As soon as they settled in, the pups got some seriously scrumptious blueberry dog porridge from HOWND. Of course, the Mums got some delicious dishes from The Magazine too.
Not long after that, we were given some hearty pumpkin casserole. If that wasn’t enough, all us doggies got a choice of a pup cake or cookie lovingly made by Love My Human Townhouse and cool Dubya Lights chews from W’ZIS.
As we were finishing off our goodies, with full bellies and ready for a post-party snooze, a fabulous raffle seemed to delight all the winners. There were food hampers, grooming products, awesome vouchers for the humans, treatos and more.
Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to friends old and new. As we left, we all got more treats from Denzel’s and fantastic food bowls from HOWND as if we hadn’t been treated enough already!
So I have to say, I take it all back…mum and Teresa, if you do any more events, you have my paw of approval. But I’m warning you now, my treat salary has just gone up! And I will be expecting an entourage of staff to take care of my every need, obviously.
Licks & fluff to all… Bailey (diva dog in the making)
A BIG thank you to everyone who came to the Mutts & Mums Brunch and each of the brands who helped make this Dog Mother’s Day event a fabulous occasion for all the dogs, dog mums & even a few dog dads.
We’re pleased to be able to report the Mutts & Mum’s Brunch was a huge success, and thanks to everyone’s participation we’ve raised an amazing £635 for Animal Rescue Kefalonia, thank you so much! We hope that everyone who attended enjoyed themselves as much as we did.
With thanks to Andrew from Raven Imagery for capturing these wonderful memories of the day.
