Helen Fines
Helen Fines is a British Fell runner who has represented her country and has placed highly nationally.
She has twice finished as the runner up in the British Fell Running Champs, and twice runner up in English fell running champs. In 2011 she was a member of the English team in the World Long Distance mountain running championships, when England won the team gold. Helen also won the individual bronze. She has also been picked for the Great Britain mountain relay team 3 times and has won her age category in the English Cross Country championship.
Helen turned vegan in 2009. She has worked as a vet since 1999 and through that and growing up in a rural community she was exposed to many aspects of the way animals are treated.
“...over the years I began to think that the way we use animals for our own devices in all manner of ways is totally obscene, unfair, and above all unnecessary. I used to think that welfare-friendly farming was a possibility until I saw too much at close hand- using animals for profit is mutually exclusive to welfare.”
“I suppose I think of veganism as a passive resistance to the status quo, I quietly refuse to participate in anything which uses animals for food, clothing, entertainment etc...., I feel my personal contribution lies in one-to-one conversations which may change people's point of view or at least get them thinking, whether it's colleagues or clients.”