Rachel Ayres
Born in Wales, Rachel spent most of her early career in retail banking, undertaking numerous training and people development roles. Dogs were a huge part of her life from early on, and having taken an ‘extended break’ from her career to travel Europe with her husband, it went without saying, that their three springer spaniels would accompany them on the adventure!
She found herself at Soi Dog Foundation as a volunteer in early 2014, having already heard about their work, and being particularly affected by the story of a dog called Hero.
So impressed with what she saw, she returned in early 2015 to volunteer for a month, and promptly fell in love with Emilia, a beautiful dog with the most mesmerising ‘Egyptian eyes’. She returned to volunteer once again that December, planning to travel back to the UK with Emilia in the spring.
Fate intervened, and Rachel subsequently spent the next three-and-a-half years at the Sanctuary in Phuket, as part of the Visitor and Volunteer Team.
Having adopted a second Soi dog, Valus, in 2018, the ‘family’ returned to the UK in May 2019, before undertaking a 4-month European trip, where their beloved Thai dogs experienced their very first snow.
Rachel’s respect and passion for Soi Dog Foundation has continued, and she was delighted to join the board of Soi Dog UK CIO in January 2021.