A major housebuilder has donated £1,000 towards brand new facilities for a hedgehog rescue in Gateshead.
Hope for Hedgehogs, which is located close to Taylor Wimpey’s Woodside Gardens development, in Ryton, started out as a small facility operating from founder Sandra Lowe’s home and garden in 2018.
Since then, it has grown into a full ‘hogspital’ run by Mrs Lowe a former psychiatric nurse, and a group of around 20 volunteers, providing care for sick and injured hedgehogs in and around the Ryton area.
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With the help of Taylor Wimpey’s donation and other fundraising, the ‘hogspital’ has been built and furnished, providing more space for the animals in the group’s care. This includes the purchase and refurbishment of the outdoor building where the hedgehogs are treated, with new roofing and flooring added along with new insulation.
Hope for Hedgehogs receives referrals for care from the British Hedgehog Society, vets and the wider public, making the extra space incredibly important to the charity.
Taylor Wimpey has also donated a hamper full of hedgehog care essentials including gloves, washing up liquid and cat food, as well as treats for the volunteers.
Mrs Lowe said: “I feel very fortunate to be able to do what I do. It can be incredibly hard work but also so rewarding. We currently have an 81% success rate with the hedgehogs we care for, and last year we looked after 186 hedgehogs, so we are very proud of our work.
“Myself and the volunteers here at Hope for Hedgehogs absolutely love what we do and we’ve built a real community in the Ryton area and further afield. We are already looking at ways we can extend our care and our volunteers are currently taking on lots of extra training so we can meet the needs of the animals.
“We are so grateful for the support of Taylor Wimpey and their donation, which has allowed us to improve our facilities.”
Sales and Marketing Director Sarah Northcott added: “The work of Sandra and the volunteers at Hope for Hedgehogs is incredibly important. Hedgehog numbers are rapidly declining and we want to play our part in helping to stop this, so we are thrilled to be able to make a contribution to the hogspital.”
Taylor Wimpey also has a partnership with Hedgehog Street, a joint campaign between wildlife charities The British Hedgehog Preservation Society and People’s Trust for Endangered Species.
