‘There’s no dog or cat that’s too old, ill or unsafe to be looked after by Battersea’

Claire Horton’s role as chief executive of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home allows her to combine her passion for charity with her love for animals.

It’s phenomenal to watch animals going to loving homes

My family is from a farming background, and growing up we always had cats and dogs – but I didn’t think one day I’d be working with them. I left school at 16 to follow in my mother’s footsteps and join the police force. Eventually, I became special constable in the West Midlands, where I met my husband, a fellow police officer.

Six weeks after our son was born, my husband was severely injured. It left him permanently disabled, and he was medically retired from the service. It was a very difficult time and led to a change in our family. I went back to work while he took over looking after our baby.

Police force hours didn’t suit home life, but I wanted to stay in the public sector, so I turned to charity work. I found a fundraising job in the NSPCC, then went on to work for Cats Protection as a national director. Next, I spent six years as chief executive of Warwick University’s Students’ Union, and during that time I also got a business degree. Having left education so young, it’s something I felt I’d missed out on. I was the first person in my family to go to university, albeit at 43. My graduation was the only time I ever saw my father cry.

I was in the charity sector working for the Variety Club when I applied to be chief executive of Battersea. I took up the role in 2010 at a time when Battersea wasn’t fulfilling its potential but had real ambition to do brilliant things. So we set about waking the sleeping giant by developing an exciting vision that seeks to help as many dogs and cats as possible, and we’ve been doing that ever since.

We rebuilt all three of Battersea’s centres, in London, Berkshire and Kent. The kennels and the veterinary facilities are now exceptional. We continue to campaign for changes in animal welfare laws. Last year, we launched the Battersea Academy and are working with dogs and cats charities both in the UK and overseas. I often think of Mary Tealby, the woman who set up Battersea in 1860. She made a promise to never turn away a dog or cat that needs help, and that’s a promise we keep today.

Across our three centres, we have around 650 animals at any one time.

A third of them have already been turned away from other shelters. But for us, there’s no dog or cat that’s too old, ill or unsafe, and we never put a time limit on how long we’ll look after them.

You experience all manner of life through Battersea, seeing both the best and the worst in people. We see neglect and abuse, but it’s phenomenal to watch animals coming out happier and healthier, and going to loving homes.

On my second day at Battersea,

I met Wilma, a Jack Russell. I wanted to understand how animals went through their journey, so I followed her progress and ended up adopting her. Wilma became a fundraiser in her own right, joining me on TV and on red carpets, as well as meeting the Queen. I sadly lost Wilma a few months ago, but still have three other wonderful Battersea rescue dogs, who come everywhere with me.

More than 3m dogs and cats have been cared for in the 160 years Battersea has been running. No wonder there’s a huge amount of public love for it. I feel immensely proud to be a part of that.

• battersea.org.uk

Iwas 23 when I lost my mother. She was killed in a road crash by a truck that didn’t have working brakes. At the time, I was working as a transport journalist in London and I was devastated. I couldn’t go back to work.

Slowly, I began to channel that grief. It was inevitable because I’d always had a zeal for campaigning. Growing up, I’d joined all sorts of organisations, such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. It was also the reason I’d loved journalism; it gave me the opportunity to research and write about causes.

I realised that because of the contacts I’d made as a journalist, I had a real opportunity to make a difference and raise awareness of issues in transport. So, aged 26 and with the support of the amazing people I had around me, I founded Brake, a road-safety charity, in 1995.

At first, the charity focused on trucks and buses, promoting awareness of things such as the safety implications of drivers being on the road all day and falling asleep at the wheel. I slowly built up a small team.

A few years into running Brake, I lost my boyfriend in a road crash. He died in a head-on collision with a car. This was exceptionally challenging, and the emotional trauma was difficult to handle at times. But again, it gave me fuel. I realised the problem didn’t just involve commercial vehicles, so I broadened the remit of the charity to cover all kinds of road safety. I was determined to help more people in the process.

In the 25 years I’ve been running Brake, we’ve achieved so much. We’ve campaigned for more police officers on the road, more investment in speed cameras and cycle lanes, and raised awareness about drink-driving and using phones. We’ve developed victim-support services, including a helpline for road crash victims and advice on legal support. We also run training programmes for police officers to help them work more empathetically with crash victims.

We have a team of around 30 staff, as well as an extensive list of volunteers and academic advisers, plus a brilliant board of trustees. Many people who raise funds for us have lost someone in the same way I have. Some are crash victims and get involved with the charity as a form of rehabilitation and recovery.

Brake also partners with other NGOS globally. We are starting work with low-income countries in their journey to campaigning for road safety, and that’s something that I’m very proud of.

As a chief executive, I’ve learned that leadership is about having confidence in my personal mission as well as my professional mission. I’m a person who is driven by values, and for me it all comes down to courage, kindness and resilience. I’m now married with two wonderful children, Arlo, 17, and Martha, 13. They are both such courageous spirits who are big on sustainable modes of travel: Martha loves skateboarding and Arlo gets around on buses.

People often ask me how I have been brave enough to do the work that I do, given the personal tragedies that I have experienced. It has been a challenging journey, but I didn’t want anyone else to go through what I did, and that’s always spurred me on. Setting up Brake felt like my sense of duty.

• brake.org.uk

We’ve achieved so much with Brake