SPANA trustee raises vital funds for working animal charity

MARIANNE Davies from Iver in Buckinghamshire completed the London Marathon in April and raised more than £2,200 for the global working animal charity SPANA (the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad), which is celebrating its centenary this year.  

Marianne completed the 26.2-mile course across London in four hours and 18 minutes. The funds raised by Marianne will support the work of the charity SPANA, of which she is a Trustee, which works to transform the welfare of working animals through global activities including ensuring the provision of veterinary treatment and care, training owners in animal care, and teaching animal welfare lessons to children.

Marianne currently works as Global Head of People Services with GSK and has been a member of SPANA’s Board of Trustees since 2021.

Marianne said:

“I am so pleased to have completed this marathon in a faster time than I had even hoped for! The amazing support from everyone cheering me on made such a huge difference – thank you! I’m grateful to everyone who supported me and donated to SPANA – an inspirational charity, which is very close to my heart.

“Having visited many of the countries where SPANA works, I have seen first-hand the essential role played by working animals in the world’s most vulnerable communities, helping families to earn a small income and survive. Working animals often live short, painful lives in terrible conditions, with no available veterinary care when they are sick or injured. This is why SPANA’s work is so vital – ensuring that animal suffering is prevented and that the welfare of working animals across the world is improved.”

Globally, an estimated 200 million working animals support the livelihoods of families in low-income communities, through such activities as transporting food, water, goods and firewood. Yet, despite the importance of their work, working animals often face difficult lives and poor welfare, toiling in extreme conditions, with no available veterinary treatment.

SPANA is marking its centenary in 2023. The charity was founded 100 years ago, in 1923, by British mother and daughter, Kate and Nina Hosali, who travelled across North Africa in the early 1920s and were struck by the suffering and neglect of many of the working animals they encountered. Last year, SPANA provided vital care and support to more than 291,000 working animals across the world.

You can still donate and support Marianne’s efforts, by visiting her JustGiving fundraising page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/marianne-davies8.