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Students continue efforts to achieve hedgehog friendly campus accreditation

Animal Care Level two students at Broomfield Hall are continuing their work to achieve the Hedgehog Friendly Campus bronze award.

Some of the tasks they have already completed to work towards this include creating and putting posters around the campus to educate our Broomfield community on the risks faced by hedgehogs; litter picking around the grounds to remove some of the hazards; creating a hedgehog house for them to live in.

Hedgehog Friendly Campus is a UK-wide award scheme funded by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. Teams of staff and students work to apply hedgehog-friendly actions on and around their university, college or school.

Animal Care students getting ready to litter pick.

Founded in 1982 the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) offers help and advice to those with sick, injured or orphaned hedgehogs and maintains a list of rehabilitators in the UK. The BHPS is a registered UK Charity (number 1164542) dedicated to helping & protecting hedgehogs native to the UK (Erinaceus europaeus).

The Animal Care students recently completed a 10km sponsored walk and are still collecting donations on their Just Giving page for the Hedgehog Preservation Society. 

Donations of cat food, cat litter, water bottles and blankets can also be taken to the Broomfield Hall reception to help wildlife rescues.

Hedgehogs are vulnerable to extinction in Britain, due to habitat loss, development, roads and garden hazards. There are now thought to be fewer than one million hedgehogs left.

Hedgehogs have declined between 30-75% since 2000 in rural areas. City dwelling hedgehog numbers appear to be recovering after a long period of decline but there is more work to be done.

Broomfield Hall is committed to helping hedgehogs in our rural setting, and raising awareness for students from the city. Broomfield Hall is committed to completing hedgehog surveys and making the campus hedgehog friendly in order for this species to thrive in our vicinity.

Students can find out more by getting in contact with their tutor.