08/06/2026
THE HEART AND SOUL OF HRH – CLAIRE AND TRACEY
We hope you’ve enjoyed our posts during
highlighting the incredible roles and tasks our amazing volunteers do.
What makes Home Run Hounds (HRH) truly remarkable is it is run ENTIRELY by volunteers—including our trustees. While similar organizations employ staff (some earning handsome salaries), HRH operates differently. Every single penny is spent exactly where it matters most: on the 100+ hounds currently in our care.
HRH simply would not be where it is today without the hard work, dedication, and dare we say, the blood, sweat, and tears of our two incredible trustees, Claire Butler and Tracey Parbery.
HOW IT STARTED
Claire founded HRH as a Community Interest Company (CIC) in April 2022 starting with just 6 dogs.
When Tracey joined her in early 2023, together they set out with a vision to build something bigger. After mountains of compliance work, that vision became reality when HRH officially became a Registered Charity in July 2024.
They didn't stop there! The original 3 Midlands sites have now grown to 6, expanding our reach to:
o Brandon (Suffolk): Run by Ingrid Wright
o Rixton (Nr Warrington): Run by Joanne Johnson and team
o Romford/Wickford (Essex): Run by Katie and Andrew Isaac
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Claire and Tracey aren't just managing things from afar; they are firmly on the front lines. On any given day, you will find them picking up poo, clearing out sheds, visiting local schools, care homes, doing the vet runs, attending our monthly Baggeridge and Waseley Walks and more.
DO THEY EVER SLEEP? (We suspect not!)
• Claire holds the HRH phone, answering the many calls every single day often well into the evening. She is the lead volunteer at our Wombourne kennels, leads events at National Tracks who support us and is a registered kennel hand. With her expertise, she takes the lead on dog welfare and vet liaisons.
• Tracey handles the dozens of daily emails, often typing away late into the night. She is the lead volunteer at our Broadmarsh kennels on Tuesdays and is an absolute whizz at organizing major events like Crufts, the Nottinghamshire Country Show, and our popular dog shows as well as events at the National Tracks who support us.
THE INVISIBLE WORK
Managing a charity of this size requires a huge amount of behind-the-scenes logistics that Claire and Tracey undertake daily:
• The Hound Lists: Juggling incoming dogs with available spaces is never easy. They maintain vital relationships with trainers and racing tracks (including ARC, Entain, GBGB, Central Park, Sunderland, and Pelaw, vets) to manage intake and ensure every dog is in tip-top shape before arriving.
• Finance & Governance: They handle full charity accounts, banking, and liaison with the Charity Commission.
• They draft operational policies and procedures, manage all contracts, and handle the procurement of merchandise, marketing materials, uniforms, promotional equipment, and charity vehicles.
• Tracey can often be found behind the mountains of paperwork to do with running the charity: hound intakes, adoptions fostering agreements, volunteer forms and liaises with colleague, Jo Withers on the Sponsor Scheme who is also responsible for registering and changing the microchips across the Midlands Branches.
BEHIND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE TASKS ARE HOURS AND HOURS OF UNPAID WORK.
Hats off to EVERY SINGLE ONE of our volunteers, we quite literally could not do this without you, but Claire and Tracey are our inspiration. Thank you both for EVERYTHING you do.
