Meet The Team (Trustees)

Jane has many backgrounds, including policing, teaching swimming and outdoor pursuits, and running a small business and a local charity, having been the manager of Settle Swimming Pool.  Passionate about the outdoors, she has been a successful ultra runner and long distance swimmer and spent many years following her love of caving and climbing, travelling to many countries across the world to pursue her adventurous activities.

Jane always dreamed of winning the lottery and starting a wildlife rescue.  This was expedited when she found her first patient (always a hedgehog), and realised that there were no local facilities.  Jane initially set up a signposting facility for helping folks who have found wildlife in trouble, getting to know many of these after travelling miles to them with things she had found.  During COVID, these places couldn't take in patients, and so with the guidance, training and mentoring from these other rescues, she started doing it herself.  Jane and Penny were introduced and collaborated their knowledge and passion for wildlife to build something quite special, doing this whilst also holding down full time jobs. Jane just needs to achieve the other part of her dream, and buy a lottery ticket!

Penny taught art in schools and colleges for 34 years, working as Director of Creative Arts and Media in Salford including time spent with the British Council in Delhi and on the West Bank in Palestine. She worked with the BBC as an advisor on arts educational programmes and moved to the Settle area in 2013. 

Having spent a lot of her time outdoors on the fells including as a member of Rossendale and Pendle Mountain Rescue Team she now works full time as an artist, immersed in nature, painting landscapes. Years ago she started taking poorly hedgehogs she found to the nearest rescue, which was in Bingley. As that rescue was always full it was suggested that she meet with another local hedgehog rescuer (Jane) and together Craven Wildlife Rescue was founded.

Alex is a Senior Project Manager at National Highways and our lone male trustee. He copes pretty well with this and fits the Trustee work around his busy home life and young family.

Sarah initially joined the team as a volunteer animal carer, soon finding her Chartered Accountancy skills were also put to good use! She now works with the animals and is our finance person.. and no, she didn't want her photo on here!

Jill has over 30 years' experience in PR and communications - for the railway, in the arts, for the BBC and latterly in the international broadcasting industry. She founded London PR company Franklin Rae - twice winner of PR Agency of the Year - and now runs Jill & Co, which works with TV and content companies across the globe. After moving from London to Shetland, she co-founded social enterprise Taste of Shetland to promote Shetland’s exceptional food and drink and also founded Shetlandeli, to use up gluts of local produce.  She is a former Trustee of The Grierson Trust and Shetland Arts.

In 2020, Jill moved to Craven, where she now lives.  She is a passionate advocate for wildlife and, in just a few years, has turned her garden into a haven for all creatures, great and small. She joined Craven Wildlife Rescue in December 2024.

Pat is an inventor, podcast host and public speaker with a passion for problem-solving and innovation. As a former Probation Officer and manager in the men's homeless sector she created practical solutions to support mental well-being.

Her podcast 'Invisible Me' gives a voice to those with invisible health issues, sharing real stories to help others.

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When she is not working she can be found outdoors, in her garden or on her allotment.. or watching sci-fi movies!

Barbara has always lived in the country and been interested in wildlife. She was a Headteacher of Primary Schools across the UK, creating Nature  Gardens, encouraging interest in wild animals and birds. She later became an Education Authority Adviser to Schools in Aberdeen.

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She had a 7.5 acre smallholding in Angus where she encouraged and protected wildlife, the highlights being when a hare had leverets on her rockery and when a Roe Deer spent the winter with a Shetland Pony in one of her fields. In 2020 she moved to Long Preston to be closer to her family turned the back garden in her current house into a miniature Nature Reserve with bird, bat and hedgehog houses and feeding stations for birds and hedgehogs, a wildlife pond and insect friendly plants as well as growing organic fruit and vegetables, loved by the insects, wood mice and birds.

Writing a monthly night sky and nature public facebook page using the name GrannyThompson 

she became a Trustee with Craven Wildlife Rescue when it became a registered charity.

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