From office job to ANIMAL RESCUE

Escaping to the country didn’t just change Jenny Green’s life, but hundreds of four-legged friends’ too

- STEPHANIE CLARKSON

When Jenny Green, a former NHS administrator, and her husband David, both 58, downsized and escaped to the country, she pictured a tranquil life pottering in her garden, enjoying long walks or meeting neighbours for coffee. Fast-forward four years and Jenny’s days are anything but quiet. As chair and trustee of St Giles Animal Rescue, she’s at the helm of a charity helping hundreds of abandoned, displaced and abused pets every year.

‘When I first became involved, I had no idea what I was letting myself in for,’ says Jenny. ‘I thought I would play a part-time administrative role, but once you meet the dogs and cats and witness the desperate need, you lose your heart and you’re in it for good.’

Jenny describes her route into the animal charity as ‘a happy accident’.

‘I’ve always loved animals, but never thought about working with them,’ she says. ‘We’d just moved from Oxfordshire to Somerset in 2017 when our family pug Betty fell ill. We took her to the local vet at St Giles Animal Centre, where sadly she was too sick to be saved. A couple of months later, the vet at the centre, Sarah, called to ask if I’d like to meet a pug puppy that had come in, with a view to adoption. Of course I said yes.

So when Jack Linnell, owner and director of the centre, then asked if I’d also consider becoming more involved in the charity, I thought, “Why not?”’