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A new look for your organisation
Almost 15 years after it was first established, Bóthar is excited to be launching our new logo which we feel better communicates our organisation’s core activities and helps to distinguish us from other charities.

Bóthar is the only Irish charity specialising in using livestock in development aid. As you may know, Bóthar started out sending in-calf Irish dairy heifers to Uganda in 1991. Since then it has grown to meet the call for this kind of assistance in Developing Countries and today works with 11 species of animals in 25 different countries.

Bóthar works on a daily basis with the worst form of poverty. The everyday poverty. The forgotten poverty. People who will never see a tv camera or a UN truck full of food. These people live off the land, struggling to eke out an existence. These people are 80% of the people in our world.

After much research and consultation, the new Bóthar logo, designed by Martin Leenane of Spark Marketing Communications, was chosen. The design features a person, an animal and a plant and clearly represents the core elements of Bóthar's work in developing countries around the world.

The figure of a person in the logo can be interpreted as a family member who has received a farm animal. The family member is feeding and caring for the animal, helping it to grow and produce. The cycle of growth started by the introduction of a farm animal is clearly depicted. Not only do animals provide nourishing milk but also their manure nourishes the soil.

The plant not only represents growth, it also reflects the growth of the animal. The first female offspring of all Bóthar animals is passed on to another needy family in the community and so the cycle of growth starts again.

The figure of a person may also be interpreted as a donor and depicts the essential role our donors play in our activities. The donors are aware of the effect that a farm animal can have on a family less fortunate than themselves.

Speaking about the new logo, Peter Ireton, Chief Executive of Bóthar commented "we wanted a logo to reflect the work that we do. Bóthar wants to stand up and be counted as being the only Irish charitable organisation that specialises in using farm animals in development aid. While our previous logo was very identifiable, we felt that that it was time to further differentiate ourselves. We are very pleased with the new logo and hope that it is well received"

Martin Leenane, Multi Media Director from Spark Marketing Communications was delighted that his design was chosen as the new logo for Bóthar. He said that "the style of the logo is illustrative, folksy and its characters are derived from cave paintings. This should help the logo to be understood by cultures globally."

The Bó Vine Christmas 2005