In Mijas and Fuengirola, Alan Boardman is the familiar face of charity quizzes, walking tours and the heartwarming Eyedrop for Uganda campaign, collecting spectacles and school supplies for remote villages in Africa. But behind every great fundraising guy is an even greater woman, and that’s Jenny Boardman, the quiet powerhouse with a life story that’s equal parts adventure, ambition and altruism.
With a history that spans being one of the first twelve ballgirls at Wimbledon, climbing the ladder in corporate banking and even dancing on tables in Dublin, Jenny’s journey is a testament to seizing opportunities with both hands. As she puts it, “You have to put yourself in the way of things. I’ve been lucky that way – the right things have happened to me at the right time.”
Jenny’s beginnings defined her now
Born in the humbler corners of southwest London, “down the hill in Wimbledon”, Jenny’s roots were modest but motivational. Her mother grew up in such poverty that shoes were a luxury, a detail that stuck with Jenny like glue. “Maybe that’s why I have a thing about children having shoes. My mum when she was a child didn’t always have them,” she reflects. This early empathy for barefoot childhoods would later fuel her passion for helping kids in Uganda, where she and Alan made sure to deliver shoes alongside glasses on their Eyedrop adventures.
From those green lawns of collecting tennis balls at the world’s most famous tennis club, Jenny vaulted into the high-stakes world of banking. Joining Barclays straight out of her teens, she seized an opportunity and never looked back. “After I joined Barclays, they offered me a course to do the banking exams, and I never looked back after that,” she says. Her career skyrocketed; at one point, she became the most senior woman in corporate banking at Barclays, even running the Heathrow Airport branch with a total of 250 staff.
Banking high-flyer to top London Salsa DJ – all in a day’s work for Jenny Boardman
Living in Westminster—the “party place of the world”, as she calls it—Jenny balanced business with dancing and occasionally DJing in London’s premier salsa club, La Finca. “I had 10 years living in Westminster, and I was out dancing four or five nights a week.” Who knew spreadsheets and salsa could mix so well?
Never one for settling down with kids, Jenny’s life took a romantic turn in the early 2000s. A rugby fanatic through Barclays’ supporters club, she jetted to Dublin for England’s Grand Slam victory. Amid the post-match revelry in a packed hotel reception, Jenny was the life of the party, standing on a table in a Guinness-stained rugby shirt, belting out “The Sexual Life of a Camel” [apparently a popular rugby song]. That’s when Alan, nursing a pint next to her, struck up a conversation. Sparks flew, and soon Jenny upended her life: quitting her high-flying job, moving to Manchester and even changing her name to Boardman by deed poll.
Escape to Mijas
But Manchester’s drizzly skies soon dampened her spirits. After one glorious summer followed by a dismal one, the couple craved sunshine. Alan, having already holidayed in Mijas, whisked Jenny there to see the place, and in 2005 they packed up for Spain. “I always thought I wouldn’t end up in England,” she quips. Their first idea was to buy a luxury minibus to service the thriving Costa del Sol golf industry, but 20 years ago obtaining the appropriate licences proved extremely difficult. Undeterred, they pivoted to a gemstone shop in Mijas Pueblo, transforming it from a typical tourist shop into a specialist centre selling natural crystals and creating a hub for expat regulars. That thrived until COVID hit, forcing a rethink.
That’s when the birds came in—literally. Avid walkers and fledgling birdwatchers, Jenny and Alan were packing for a Gambia holiday when extra luggage space sparked an idea. Alan had been collecting donations on his Mijas Walking Tours For Charity – fundraising to help re-establish the barn owl habitat lost in a Sierra de Mijas fire – but why stop at feathered friends? “Birds… we both like walking and birdwatching,” Jenny explains. This evolved into the Eyedrop campaign, gathering old specs and school gear for Ugandan villages. Last year, they spent a month there, handing out supplies (shoes included!) and sharing updates via social media. A return trip is planned for January 2026, and the community have yet again rallied and collected more than ever.
Woman behind it all
Today, Jenny’s the organisational wizard behind it all. As president of their urbanisation, she runs what might be Mijas’ most orderly community board, thanks to her banking-honed skills. “Alan is more front of house. He is the one for entertaining with the guided walks of Mijas and the charity quizzes, while I’m more in the background organising everything. But, with the Uganda project, we both work on that.” After COVID forced a shop hiatus, they doubled down on charity: “After having 2 years off… we stepped back and had time to think about everything we were doing.” Alan calls her “an amazing woman”, often in the background yet tireless.
From table-dancing in Dublin to delivering hope in Uganda, Jenny Boardman‘s story is a fun reminder that life’s best adventures come from putting yourself “in the way of things”—and perhaps a pair of dancing shoes. With her energy powering the Costa del Sol’s charitable heartbeat, she’s proof that behind every spotlight is a star not stealing the show.