Students and staff at SMB College Group’s Brooksby Campus recognise the importance of preserving wildlife in the UK, that’s why they signed up for the Hedgehog Friendly Campus project in April 2021, becoming one of the first Further Education campuses to achieve official Hedgehog Friendly Campus accreditation!
Brooksby Campus is SMB College Group’s specialised Land-Based campus, spanning 850 acres in the heart of Leicestershire, making it the perfect home for hedgehogs. Over the years, there have been various sightings of hedgehogs on campus and, after recognising Brooksby is an important environment for this type of wildlife, students and staff set out to create a safe space for these amazing, yet vulnerable, animals to thrive.
Hedgehogs are vulnerable to extinction in Britain due to habitat loss, development, roads and garden hazards, there are now thought to be less than one million hedgehogs left globally. To help protect the Brooksby Campus Hedgehogs, staff and students have carried out several litter picks and campus hazard surveys to remove as many threats to hedgehogs as possible.
Last year, they also took part in the Big Hog Friendly Litter Pick competition, completing group litter picks across various areas on campus, with support from Melton Borough Council who very kindly donated all the necessary equipment. Due to their incredible efforts, the volunteer litter pickers managed to remove a total of 62 bags of rubbish from campus and came first in the competition!
This year, they have been working towards the silver award which involves completing practical hog friendly initiatives, including hedgehog hazard assessments and pond audits, creating and maintaining hedgehog feeding stations, and completing hedgehog footprint tunnel surveys -with resources and training being provided by the Hedgehog Friendly Campus team and funding from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.
During the footprint tunnel surveys, they were extremely excited to find evidence of hedgehogs in different areas on campus. The results of these surveys will be used to help improve the college’s hedgehog friendly strategies next year as the organisation work towards the gold award!
Brooksby’s hedgehog friendly team is coordinated by Animal Management Lecturer and Veterinary Nurse, Beth Prior. In November 2022, Beth was asked to take part in the EAUC Annual Conference, delivering a talk at Loughborough University about the college’s Hedgehog Friendly project. The discussion focused on how to get students engaged in promoting biodiversity and sustainability on campus, and best practice actions in education.
Students and staff at SMB College Group continue to go above and beyond in the aid of local wildlife, Beth hopes to get the whole campus involved next year, recruiting members from all of the other departments across the college. No matter how big or small, everyone can get involved to help save the hedgehogs!
