News

We are celebrating Hedgehog Awareness Week

Hedgehog Awareness Week runs from 2nd to 8th May, but for us hedgehogs are important all year round. We have been making donations to charities, organising talks and making our developments friendly and accessible to the spikey critters since 2021.

Amanda Norman of Spiny Normans Hedgehog Support

Hedgehog highways are incorporated throughout our developments, and are carefully designed to provide hedgehogs with access routes to roam, providing them with access to a greater range of food resources and shelter.

In August 2021, we handed out hedgehog highway signs to people who visited our Maulden Ridge and Manor Heath developments in Bedfordshire, and hosted collections for two local hedgehog sanctuaries. The donations, which totalled over £220, went to Hedgehugs Rescue and Rehabilitation in Sharnbrook and Spiny Normans Hedgehog Support in Wyboston.

On the donation, Amanda Norman, Owner of Spiny Normans Hedgehog Support, said: “It’s wonderful that hedgehogs have highways in Mulberry Homes’ Bedfordshire developments – it’s great for the hedgehogs, and great for the homebuyers, as it encourages and allows people to experience and support hedgehogs moving forward. This is exactly what we need to see!

“We are very grateful to Mulberry Homes for the kind support they are showing towards hedgehogs and Spiny Norman’s Hedgehog Support.”

In November, we donated £500 each to two Warwickshire-based hedgehog rescues as part of our 10-year anniversary campaign. Both Warwickshire Hedgehog Rescue and Barnacle Hedgehog Rescue are volunteer-ran and dedicated to nursing sick, injured and abandoned hedgehogs until they can be released back into the wild.

At the time, Debbie Boddington, Founder and Medical Leader at Barnacle Hedgehog Rescue, said: “Barnacle Hedgehog Rescue was overwhelmed with the generosity of Mulberry Homes. The amazing donation of £500 will go a long way to saving at least three hedgehogs by providing medical or other essentials needed.”

This year, we treated year five pupils at Temple Herdewyke Primary School in Warwickshire to a special talk on how they can care for hedgehogs in their local area.

The children, aged nine and ten, were visited by Senior Carer Sally Ellis, who volunteers for Warwickshire Hedgehog Rescue. As part of the talk, Sally presented a series of photos and videos of the hedgehogs under her care. Alongside arranging the talk, we also donated 30 hedgehog highway signs – one for each pupil.

Following the talk, Sally Ellis commented: “I hope that the children are able to put their hedgehog highway signs to good use in their own homes, and now know how to best support any vulnerable hedgehogs they find that need help.”

In April, we organised another hedgehog talk, this time for Silsoe VC Lower School in Bedfordshire, delivered by Kate from Hedgehugs Rescue and Rehabilitation. The talk focused on sustainability and creating a welcoming environment for the animals, continuing our commitment to educating the public on hedgehog welfare.

Kerry Jones, Sales and Marketing Director at Mulberry Homes, said: “We are very proud to have been supporting multiple hedgehog charities and raising awareness about how to care for these much-loved mammals. Helping to protect and support the wildlife that lives amongst where we operate is a huge part of our ethos at Mulberry Homes, and we look forward to continuing this work in the future.”