
We are extremely proud of the great reputation that Forever Hounds Trust as a breed specific sighthound rescue. From feedback received, we are pleased that supporters appreciate our friendly, supportive and professional approach.
But, did you know there is only a small team behind the scenes significantly enhancing the lives of greyhounds and lurchers in need?
Forever Hounds Trust has one Centre in Devon, where there are seven staff looking after the dogs, and five other remote staff supporting in all aspects of operations – many on a part time basis. The whole operation is overseen by our CEO who reports to a board of Trustees. Forever Hounds Trust had to downsize considerably in respect of locations and staff in the light of the cost of living crisis and the extremely volatile environment charities operate in – many have sadly fallen by the wayside. Due to effective governance of the trustees, shrewd management of the CEO, passionate and dedicated staff and amazing volunteers we have been proud to survive, maintain professionalism and even significantly enhance operations.
Staff
CEO (full time)
Responsible for the day to day operation of the rescue, management of the following teams overseeing all activities taking an active role where needed. The CEO also works closely with the Board on strategic planning and new developments and represents the charity at events such as APDAWG in Westminster.
Centre Staff
Live in Centre Manager (Full Time) |
Behaviourist (Full Time) |
Sighthound Rehabilitator (x time) |
Sighthound Rehabilitator (x time) |
Sighthound carer (x time) |
Sighthound carer (x time) |
This team are responsible for the day-to-day operations at our Centre near Cullompton in Devon, this includes (but is not limited to):
- Caring for the dogs
- Feeding the dogs (considering enrichment feeders where appropriate)
- Walking the dogs (on and offsite)
- Cleaning out kennels
- Providing the dogs with physical and mental enrichment
- Vet visits for routine and emergency issues
- Medical care of the dogs (administering medication, changing dressings etc)
- Welfare reviews
- Assessing the dogs on and off site.
- Rehabilitation of the dogs
- Behavioural support
- Onsite volunteer induction and management/support
- Onsite facility management
- All administration and record keeping relating to looking after the dogs
The Centre manager, along with the behaviourist, supported by the CEO also deal with the intake of dogs, whether from the racing industry, local pounds, other charities or private homes – on an ongoing, or emergency basis. The Centre Manager and Behaviourist also deal with the assessing, matching and homing of dogs, with the behaviourist overseeing the volunteer post homing support team to ensure a successful homing.

Non-Centre Staff
Little do people understand the enormous effort that goes on behind the scenes in running an animal rescue charity! It’s not just the intake, looking after and homing of the dogs there are many activities undertaken to allow this to happen. This is done by the following small team, all of whom work from home to reduce costs:
Administration Manager (part time) |
Support Development Manager (part time) |
Social Media and Website Officer (part time) |
Grants and Funds Officer (part time) |
Homing, Kennelling and Welfare Administrator (part time) |
This team deals with all of the ongoing administrative operations of the charity in conjunction with, and supported by the CEO. Due to the small nature of the team, there is often a degree of crossover to ensure effective operations of the charity. Here are just some of the activities undertaken:
Fundraising – Writing and publishing appeals. Sourcing and management of income streams. Management and maintenance of fundraising platforms. Event management. Researching and applying for grants. Writing grant reports. Building relationships with trust funders.
Supporter Management and Development – Maintaining, updating and developing an effective CRM system. Developing relationships with supporters and ensuring regular contact where needed. Enhancing the supporter journey. Thanking supporters and donators.
Volunteer Recruitment, Management, and Recruitment – Inducting volunteers. Volunteer support and guidance. Ensuring all volunteer processes completed. Management of volunteer records in line with GDPR. Point of contact for all non-centre volunteer enquiries.
Event Management – supporting volunteers in the arranging of events. Promoting the events before and after on all communication channels. Point of contact for external parties inviting the charity to attend events.
Social media management – Sourcing and creating content for all social media channels – Facebook, X, Instagram. LinkedIn and Youtube. Responding to comments/messages. Admin responsibilities in all FHT Facebook groups. Ensuring the social media policy is adhered. Reviewing the social media environment
Website management and development – Sourcing, creating and publishing content. Reviewing and updating current content. Developing website. Sourcing and managing complimentary platforms that link into website.
Other Communication – Sourcing content for, designing and delivering e-shots and newsletters. Reviewing all current literature and designing new promotional literature as the charity evolves. Managing email inboxes. Management of Mailchimp and relevant audiences.
Dog Administration – Dealing with the admin of home offers, gathering facts, setting expectations and updating records. Recording all details of dogs arriving on CRM system. Microchip changes. Sending bereavement cards to adopters.
Finance – Dealing with invoices and other outgoing payments. Receiving, collating and recording income received from all fundraising sources. Creating and maintaining effective mechanisms for accurate reporting of income.
Webshop Management – Sourcing products, stocktaking and creating purchase orders. Management of orders.
HR – Management of staff records. Creation, management and development of policies and procedures relating to staff. All aspects of HR in relation to staff
Facilities management – Management of vans, centre facilities, etc. Ensure accurate records held of all aspects of facilities management
Legacies (dealt with by CEO) – dealing with all administration in relation to legacies.
This is just the day to day operations of the charity to ensure we can continue to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome sighthounds in need. However, Forever Hounds Trust doesn’t stand still and in line with our strategy, staff members work together with trustees in sub-committees to ensure we deliver our strategy and the charity can go from strength to strength.
Trustees
The team is supported by a a board of Trustees (volunteers) who are responsible for governance, strategic direction, risk management and income/expenditure to ensure the ongoing sustainability of the charity. The Board are also responsible to ensure that the charity’s activities support its core objectives and work closely with the CEO to achieve this.
Volunteers

We couldn’t do what we do without the team of approximately 100 volunteers supporting us in our journey. Volunteers may either based based at our Devon Centre, or they may be remote doing certain tasks as organising or supporting at events, administration, post homing support, crafting, online fundraising and more! Read about volunteering here.
So, as you can see, the Forever Hounds Trust team may be small, but it is certainly mighty, in fact we think we often portray an organisation bigger than we actually are!
Read more about who are and what we do here.