Meet the team

16 people work at SPANA's London headquarters, providing support to all our country offices. We look after the general management and administration of the charity, involving everything from finance and fundraising to managing our photographic image library and liaising with supporters and volunteers.

Compared to the number of people we have out in the field, the team headquarters is small. But that means we are able to ensure that as much money as possible is spent helping working animals in need.

Here are some of the people you'll see in SPANA News magazine or whom you may wish to contact about various aspects of our work.

Jeremy Hulme
Chief Executive

As Chief Executive, I oversee all of SPANA's work abroad and have been personally involved with our emergency work in places like Kosovo, Iraq and, most recently, Sudan.

I believe passionately that education is essential to improving animal welfare and I'm very proud of our unique role developing educational books, exhibitions and training courses. There is so much going on and this is only made possible by the hard work and dedication of the marvellous team you can read about below. Not forgetting, of course, the generosity of our kind supporters.

M J Reid MA FCA
Finance Director

Karen Jones, MRCVS
Director of Veterinary Services

A good deal of my time is spent travelling in Africa and Asia, monitoring our clinics and mobile units — it's my job to keep our vets and technicians up to date with the latest training, techniques and medicines. Communicating with animal owners can be difficult, although, in that respect, the years I spent as a vet in Nepal and Jordan have proved invaluable.

Position Currently Vacant
Director of Fundraising

Each year, demand for our welfare work increases. My job is to manage our fundraising activities and raise as much money as we can to treat all the working animals that need us. As an animal charity that works overseas, SPANA receives no UK government funding and relies almost entirely on donations from individual supporters. So, please help us to encourage other people who really care about animals to support our vital work.

Diana Hulme
Director of Education

I am a fully qualified primary teacher and taught for several years in London, before becoming the resident SPANA teacher in Morocco. Now, as Director of Education, I am responsible for developing lesson plans, extra-curricula programmes in overseas schools and finding innovative ideas to help change outdated attitudes towards animals.

Caroline Francis
Legacy & Trust Co-ordinator

So much of our work is made possible by people remembering us in their wills. A crucial part of my job is the difficult task of sensitively emphasising the importance of Legacy income to our supporters. I also raise funds from other sources, such as trusts and major donors, so that SPANA can help more animals in desperate need.

Simon Pope
Director of Communications

I'm responsible for promoting SPANA's work through as many media as possible — from newspapers and radio to television and the Internet. I also make sure that every news piece and article is accurate by liaising closely with the media. We want to broaden our audience and open more eyes and ears to the important work we do. simon@spana.org

Anna Smith
Support Services Co-ordinator

My usual day involves answering a diverse range of enquiries by phone and mail. Although I've only been with SPANA for a short time, I have developed a strong relationship with our volunteer fundraisers and look forward to building on this in the year ahead.

Marilyn Dale
PA to Chief Executive

My role is to assist the Chief Executive and act as a contact point for our overseas staff in his absence. Another important and rewarding part of my work is responding to distressing reports of animal cruelty or neglect that people have encountered during their travels. Where SPANA cannot intervene directly, I seek out other organizations that can help.

Walter Allen
Legacies Administration

I started volunteering for SPANA in 1991, originally dealing with fundraising from organisations such as the World Bank. More recently I have been managing SPANA’s legacy administration. I find this to be stimulating and worthwhile as so much of SPANA’s income is raised from this source. To many SPANA supporters this is a most fitting way to give a very effective final gift to help sick and injured animals.

Sue Fine
Photo Library & Facilities Manager

I joined SPANA in 1990 as an administrative officer, which often brought me into close contact with many of our supporters and volunteers. Over the year my role has expanded and I am now in charge of our new photo library. I also manage the domestic side of the charity, such as; heating, health and safety at work and fire regulations.

Antonia Learey
Fundraising Assistant

I have always had a strong passion for helping animals and have had lots of pets — so working for SPANA is ideal. At SPANA I maintain and update our supporter database — which is essential to help raise more money for sick and injured animals. I love hearing from supporters and am continually amazed at their generosity.