Our series on “Champions for Change” will feature people of any gender in any role who are making a difference and creating positive change for women in the veterinary sector – enabling aspirations, inspiring and supporting others to grow and follow their passions, and empowering our community.

Alice Moore is a small animal vet at Garston Veterinary Group, a project manager on sustainable working practices for the XLVets community, and is Chair of the BVA Policy Committee. She is also central to the Veterinary Women In Leadership team.

Alice was nominated by Flexee founder Silvia Janska, who said, “Alice is super passionate about helping the vet profession change for the better. She has been working as a project manager for the flexible working project between Flexee, XLVets and their independent practices to inspire improved flexibility in clinical practice. While flexible working supports all staff, it is very desirable by the increasing number of working mothers.” Read on to find out more about how Alice is championing change.

Please provide a brief bio/summary of your career story:

Alice Moore
  • I graduated as a veterinary surgeon from the University of Cambridge in 2015 and spent my first year in practice at Eastcott Veterinary Hospital in Swindon. 
  • On completing their 12-month graduate programme, I took a few months off to travel around Asia. 
  • Shortly after returning, I started my current position as a small animal vet at Garston Veterinary Group, a large practice based in Somerset where I have worked for the past 7 years. 
  • In addition to developing my role in practice, I have become increasingly interested in wider policy matters facing the veterinary community.  I joined the BVA’s policy committee in September 2019 as their recent graduate representative and was delighted to be re-elected in 2022, taking on the additional role of chair. 
  • I joined the XLVets team in 2021 as a project manager, and currently split my time between my clinical role at Garston and managing collaborative projects on sustainable working practices for the XLVets community.  My particular interests include diversity & equity within the workforce, environmental sustainability and promoting responsible pet ownership.

Please summarise how you are working towards change in the veterinary professions and why do you feel this is important?

Alongside my clinical role at Garston Veterinary Group, I am heavily involved in the running of our sustainability team after co-founding it in 2019 with a group of like-minded colleagues. Together, we have already made huge leaps forward in reducing the practice’s carbon footprint by streamlining our waste and heating processes, reducing our electricity and paper consumption, and phasing out the use of nitrous oxide.  As well as facilitating change in-house, our efforts have been aimed at engaging the wider veterinary community, with Garston featuring as one of the first online case studies for Vet Sustain.  We were awarded ‘Green Veterinary Practice of the Year’ (The Webinar Vet) in March 2023, before achieving silver accreditation with Investors in the Environment (IIE) and winning the ‘Best Carbon Reduction’ Award (IIE) later that year. 

As a member of BVA’s Policy Committee I have been involved in the development of multiple policy positions, lobbying members of parliament and advising BVA council on policy matters.  Together with my fellow committee members, I’ve been tasked with making evidence-based decisions and providing constructive and realistic solutions to a wide range of different issues.  My most notable contributions include assisting with the development of professional guidance during the Covid-19 lockdowns and working with cross-sectional groups to develop positions on complex topics such as under care, the remote provision of veterinary services, enhancing the role of the RVN as part of wider legislative reform, and a review of non-traditional companion animals.  As chair of the committee, I have worked hard to amplify the voices of my committee members in order to help them drive progress, most importantly within equality, diversity and inclusion at BVA.

In 2021 I launched a project with XLVets looking at the concept of ‘flexible working’; a topic of current debate which I believe is fundamental in helping to solve the retention and recruitment crisis. I have also enjoyed getting involved with ‘Veterinary Women in Leadership’, a collaborative initiative between XLVets and Veterinary Woman, which has taught me a lot about equality, diversity and inclusion.  Working on these two projects has greatly improved my understanding of what makes a workforce sustainable and how human behaviour can be influenced successfully on both an individual and cultural level.  This role has also given me the opportunity to speak and chair at BSAVA Congress, SPVS, BVA Live and LVS, allowing me to get out there and spread the word! 

How do you feel this is making a difference?

Alice Moore

Within every role that I do, I am working towards change.  Change is an essential component of progress.  It’s not always a linear relationship, and sometimes change can feel uncomfortable or even unhelpful, but without change improvement cannot be made. 

What motivated you to want to change things?

I remember my first boss giving me an excellent piece of advice when I started out in practice.  He told me that if I see a problem I should own it, and not leave it for someone else to fix.  As I’ve progressed through my career I’ve often reminded myself of that advice and found it to be applicable to almost every problem!  It could be something really small, like noticing the blue roll has run out and bothering to replace it, or something much much bigger, like noticing the impact your workplace operations are having on the environment and convening a team of colleagues to try and reduce it.  The point is being the change you want to see, noticing what interests you or frustrates you on a daily basis, and not waiting around for someone else to do something about it.   

“We can choose not to allow ourselves to be overcome by guilt and pessimism, and instead wholeheartedly commit to knowing and doing better with every day that passes.”

What has most helped and motivated you along the way?

‘Do the best you can until you know better.  Then when you know better, do better.’ Maya Angelou.

Such a simple quote and yet the message is utterly empowering.  Angelou’s words are a call to arms, she asks us to educate ourselves and to convert that knowledge into action.  But, most importantly, she also allows us to treat our past selves with kindness, compassion and understanding.  We cannot change the past, either our own or that of the generations that came before us, but that doesn’t mean we should let it paralyse our present or condemn our future.  We can choose not to allow ourselves to be overcome by guilt and pessimism, and instead wholeheartedly commit to knowing and doing better with every day that passes.

What is the best advice you’ve been given, or that you would give to someone else, about driving positive change?

‘Perfection is the enemy of progress’ – a famous quote by a famous man, Sir Winston Churchill.  

I was reminded of this quote when doing a piece of work with Vet Sustain recently and I think it’s really relevant to our workforce in particular.  Veterinary professionals often identify as perfectionists, myself included, but perfectionism can be utterly debilitating.  It can feel pretty terrifying leaving the safety of our comfort zone to throw ourselves into the ring without a perfect plan.  We are scientists – we want to have all of the evidence before we make a decision.  But when we’re pushing at boundaries this is often a luxury we just don’t have, and furthermore will probably never have if we don’t make a start.  Don’t let perfectionism paralyse you into inaction.  It’s not all going to be smooth sailing but don’t let failure, or even the prospect of failure, stop you from trying. 


In honour of International Women’s Day on March 8th, 2024, we assembled a collection of ‘Champions for Change’ profiles into a free eBook. Explore exclusive stories highlighting inspirational figures driving positive change for women in veterinary.


Our thanks to Ami for sharing her inspiring story of how she is championing change. If you would like to nominate a Champion for Change or share your story, please let us know.


For exclusive access to more stories like this, subscribe to our monthly newsletter


You may also like:

Veterinary Woman ‘Champions for Change’

Veterinary Woman Champions for Change: Katie Ford and Claire Grigson

Veterinary Woman Champions for Change: Jess Marshall

Comments are closed.