Meet: Elaine

How long have you been at Holly Hedge?
I joined Holly Hedge in 2013.

What made you choose to join Holly Hedge?
I was in a pretty depressed state of mind having had to give up my job in retail that I had done for around 30 years due to mobility problems. I knew of Holly Hedge, having a love of all animals but dogs in particular, I would often find myself looking at the website and saw that they were looking for reception volunteers, so I popped down for a chat and started doing one day a week. I absolutely loved it and it wasn’t long before I was offered a job, getting paid for something that I loved doing so much was incredible.

What is your role here?
My role now is the re-homing supervisor. I have a small dedicated team that run reception. It’s a very varied role, from dealing with very distressed people having to give up their animals, to very happy people taking their new fur baby home and all the processes in between to make that happen.

What is your favourite thing to do here?
The best thing is to see is an animal go to it’s new home, many have very sad back stories and come to us almost shut down, but with the love and care they receive from our amazing animal care staff, you gradually see them transform into the wonderful animal they were born to be. I call it the Holly Hedge magic and have seen it happen time and time again.

What are you doing to keep away the isolation boredom?
We have four dogs that keep us occupied and make us laugh with their antics but I am one of the lucky ones who still need to go into work, so no time to get bored.

Tell us your favorite joke.
What did the dog say to the tree?
Bark!!