Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Former chief executive of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home who transformed the struggling animal rescue charity.
On the island
Eight records
This song was designed to just change people's attitudes to rescue pets. … when they come out of a rescue, they're happy, they're trusting, and so they come out with what I call a bit of a swagger.
My late father … was not very musical. … I would dance and dance and run around the house, leaping on sofas … just dancing to this song.
Wuthering HeightsFavourite
When I was around about 16, somebody lent me a skirt … and I danced and I danced and I ran around the fields … I would sneak out of the house, take my shoes off, jump around in the moonlight and … just dance to sing this song.
I watched what was a hugely vibrant and wonderful, busy, exciting high street in Dudley turn into the most derelict, depressing and soulless place you could imagine. So this song is really about the deindustrialisation of the country.
This is absolutely my go-to place. … When I do [get downtime], this is the song that I disappear into.
This song is really for my son … when we moved to Worcester … he was very nervous … and a song was playing on the radio and it sort of became our song. … Every line begins with an affirmation.
This is just such an uplifting song and it comes from the London 2012 Olympics … the torch itself took a detour … [Michael Owen] ran … through a guard of honour of Battersea dogs and people. … It's about celebrating our heroes.
London Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Youth Choir of Great Britain
This is actually really very much in keeping with the role I am now in at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission … it's a mass for peace … written for the millennium in remembrance of the victims of the Kosovo crisis.
In conversation
Presenter asks
2:12So, Claire, you're just weeks into your new job at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which cares for the graves of the men and women who died in the First and Second World Wars. But beyond the professional, I think you have a personal connection with that work too, don't you?
I come from a very small village in Lancashire where many of the young men … at the time obviously went to war … and died. And it was only when I looked on the War Graves phenomenal casualty database … that I found that there were two members of my family who very sadly died. … They've got war graves in the local village cemetery.
Presenter asks
5:51How did the increased demand for pets at the beginning of lockdown affect you at Battersea? Were you prepared for it?
We were getting 1,500 calls almost every day and applications onto our online rehoming portal. And we just didn't have those animals. … there was this massive surge of people wanting animals online, we then saw fewer animals coming in … Also, that people were getting lots and lots of dogs … off the internet. And that … brings lots of problems because what we saw was a surge in imported animals coming into the country from abroad, puppy farmers churning out puppies left and right, and often in such poor condition, taken away from their mothers too early … and more often than not dying.
The keepsakes
The book
Dick Francis
I do like crime fiction. Probably one of my oldest favourites is Dick Francis, so I'm just going to go with anything by Dick Francis, please.
The luxury
My grandfather and my grandmother were very musical people... I never really played it very well. So I think I quite like to learn to play the piano.
Presenter asks
7:31About 10% of dogs that you re-home from Battersea are returned within six months. Why is that? Why do people bring them back?
Usually, it will be a very genuine change in circumstances. So, it could be an illness, someone might die, it might be a relationship breakdown … people will lose their jobs, then they lose their homes … people can't afford their animals anymore. … Then, we'll get people who will bring them back because they hadn't thought it was going to wee on the carpet … we've even had a dog come back once because it didn't match the sofa.
Presenter asks
18:38Your husband Paul, was also a police officer at the time you were. How did you meet? Was it on the beat?
It was on the beat, actually. … I remember I was standing in the middle of the road looking up at this really tall, very handsome police officer … and thinking, Oh, gosh, he's gorgeous, but of course, he'll never like me. … We all ended up having a drink together. … we ended up at someone's house … as I walked through the door to take some coffees off him … he sort of stopped in the doorway and just leaned forward and gave me a kiss. And that was it. We were smitten forever then.
Presenter asks
20:16I think Paul had an accident at work, and that had serious implications for him. What happened?
We'd been married actually about a year and our son Tim was six weeks old and Paul sustained a really serious injury to both feet. … he's had 17 operations … and they couldn't fix it. And he was pensioned off … He lost the job he loved. He lost his mobility. … the upside … is that he brought up baby and I went back to work and I have had the career I've had … because of him.
Presenter asks
26:20When you became Chief Executive at Battersea, your brief was described as waking the sleeping giant. What exactly did the job involve and was it daunting?
I think it was exciting. It involved taking it out to the nation. … what [Battersea] didn't do was it didn't raise very much money. … taking it and giving it back to the people and bringing them on board … was the most important thing. … we very early on we secured the Paul O'Grady for the Love of Dogs television programme. So this is a prime time TV show bringing Battersea into people's living rooms essentially.
“When they come out of a rescue, they're happy, they're trusting, and so they come out with what I call a bit of a swagger.”
“That is an industry in profit and that is an industry in misery.”
“All it wants is love, and what you'll get back from that is unconditional loyalty and love forever.”
“I guess I missed seeing him as much and I became more friends with him than I perhaps had ever done before in older life really.”
“I'm not that tough really.”
“It's probably the hardest career decision I've ever had to make. I adore Battersea. … we know how to have fun and we know how to make our animals enjoy life as well.”