Meet our Trustees: Beth Brook

With a passion for both animals and people, and a wealth of experience in charity leadership, Beth assumes the role of Chair of the Blue Cross from June 2024, bringing with her a dedication to the welfare of pets and their owners.

“Animals have always played a significant part in my life. I began my working life on a pig farm. An ecologist by training, I spent several years as Director of Conservation and Marketing with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.

“Following a brief sojourn to live and work in Poland, I have since had Chief Executive positions at the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, Fair Train (a charity promoting the benefits of high quality work experience and apprenticeships) and more recently, the Heart of England Forest, which included not only establishing and growing England’s largest new native broadleaf forest for the benefits of wildlife, people and the environment, but also involved managing the charity’s farm and developing a conservation grazing programme using traditional breeds of livestock.

“Working in a variety of charities across several sectors has equipped me with a strong background in charity leadership, strategy and robust governance, enabling organisations to deliver significant impact for public benefit.

“The animals I have been lucky enough to know have added immeasurable benefit to my life, providing unwavering loyalty, friendship, grounding and stress management – a constant amongst the happy occasions and the sad, the celebrations and the tough times. From Wilson, my German pointer, to Hartley and Wallace, my mischievous Rhodesian ridgebacks, and from Pinky and Mrs Moustachio, two of the lambs I have rescued and bottle fed after being rejected at birth, to Noodle, our current rescue crossbreed dog (who has brought a new definition to the word patience!), they have all taught me a lot.”

With a large menagerie of rescue animals at home, Beth understands first-hand the profound impact that pets can have on individual wellbeing and societal cohesion. It is this empathy and understanding of people and pets that drives her to champion the cause of animal welfare at the Blue Cross.