How we've helped Prickles and Paws Hedgehog Rescue

With the hedgehog having recently been reclassified as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the work of Prickles and Paws Hedgehog Rescue has never been more vital.

COVID-19 has not got in the way of the charity’s education and advocacy efforts these past 12 months, in fact the shift toward digital communication has allowed for Prickles and Paws to reach audiences they never previously would have met.

Operations Manager, Katy South, said that with the continued growth and interest in hedgehogs the change from face-to-face meetings to Zoom or Teams calls has opened several new doors for the charity.

“We focus quite heavily on education, and due to COVID we’re now doing virtual Zoom tours to allow for people to see some of the residents and learn more about hedgehogs. We’ve been able to meet people all over the country, and we’re just about to hit 50 talks after starting this in April of last year,” she said.

With this continued growth and a renewed interest in the fate of the hedgehog, Katy approached the Skills Hub for help in identifying and acquiring the skills needed to make expansion plans possible.

“The charity has grown so rapidly, and we needed to ensure that we were keeping up with the governance side of things, making sure that we have the skills in place for when we do move and if the charity does continue to expand.

“We have been running for over 10 years but only became a registered charity in 2017, and for now we are still operating out of my parents back garden so it’s a must to have the skills that are needed to have the charity in the best position to move forward,” Katy said.

The five-year plan for Prickles and Paws Hedgehog Rescue is to expand on the services they currently provide, allowing for the care, rehabilitation and release of native British wildlife species, eventually becoming Prickles and Paws Wildlife Hospital.

“There isn’t a wildlife hospital in Cornwall, with the nearest hospital two counties away. With the wildlife going two counties away for rehab they don’t come back here to Cornwall for release so we hope we can fill the gap to become an essential facility for wildlife here in Cornwall,” Katy said.

The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Skills Hub from October 2017 - June 2023 was part funded by the European Social Fund and match funded by Cornwall Council and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership. The project  received £2,885,993 of funding from the European Social Fund as part of the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme in England.