Help a Hedgehog This Week – and All Year Round!

By Jill Dando News

This week is Hedgehog Awareness Week, and it’s the perfect time to learn more about one of Britain’s most loved wild animals.

Hedgehogs are small, spiky garden visitors that play a huge role in our environment.

They help control pests by eating slugs, beetles and other garden insects, making them brilliant natural pest controllers.

But sadly, hedgehog numbers in the UK have fallen sharply in recent years due to habitat loss, busy roads and a lack of safe spaces.

However, we can help! Here are a few simple things we can all do to help:

• Leave a gap in your fence (about 13cm by 13cm) so hedgehogs can roam freely between gardens.
• Avoid using slug pellets or pesticides — they can harm hedgehogs as well as the bugs they eat.
• Leave out food and water — meaty cat or dog food (not fish based) or dry biscuits for cats. A shallow dish of fresh water with some pebbles in that will also allow bees and insects to drink!

• Check before strimming or lighting bonfires — hedgehogs often hide in piles of leaves or logs.
• Make a hedgehog house or leave a wild corner of your garden with leaves and logs for shelter.

Hedgehogs may be tiny, but they’re mighty when it comes to biodiversity. By helping them, we’re helping our whole ecosystem stay balanced and healthy.

Several charities work hard all year round to protect hedgehogs. The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) is leading the way, offering advice, education, and funding research. 

Hedgehog Street, a joint project by BHPS and People’s Trust for Endangered Species, encourages people to create hedgehog-friendly streets.

Local rescue centres like Wildlife Aid Foundation also care for sick and injured hedgehogs and return them to the wild.

So this Hedgehog Awareness Week, do your bit — because a little help goes a long way when you're only a few inches tall.

If you have a positive story or uplifting news to share, we’d love to hear from you!

Just email us at news@goodnewspost.co.uk. 

Whether it's a local hero, an act of kindness, or a personal win, your story could help spread joy and improve someone’s mental health. Let’s make the world a little brighter, one good news story at a time. 

And don’t forget—you can sign up for free to get the latest feel-good stories straight to your inbox!