Charity’s Little Bramingham Farm residential care home in Luton welcomes 'prickly pair' Brent and Trent

At Little Bramingham Farm, the Luton-based residential care home run by Charity, Friends of the Elderly, which is celebrating its 120th Anniversary this year, the residents and care team have been celebrating this year’s National Hedgehog Week with a special talk by Kate Dimmock who works at Harlington Hogspital, which has links to The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS).

Harlington Hogspital is the village’s animal hospital which has connections to The BHPS, the registered UK Charity, which is dedicated to helping and protecting Erinaceus Europaeus, the European Hedgehog, which is also known as the West European Hedgehog or Common Hedgehog.

“We met Kate when she visited Little Bramingham Farm to have a tour as she was looking for a care home for her Mother,” said Emma Lawrance, the Registered Manager at Little Bramingham Farm.“We got chatting and we were so interested in what Kate said and her passion for safeguarding Hedgehogs, we became very eager to help in any way we could to continue to protect as many Hedgehogs as possible.

“We invited Kate to come along and give a talk to the residents as they love all animals and are very animal-orientated, so we knew this would be something they would be interested in and keen to hear about.”

“The residents found Kate’s talk fascinating,” continued Karen Charity, the Activities Coordinator at the care home. “After Kate’s talk and presentation we spoke to the residents and they were extremely enthusiastic about the idea of having Hedgehogs in the area and supporting their release. It was also a wonderful reminiscing exercise as some of the residents shared lovely memories of seeing Hedgehogs in their gardens when they were younger or when their children were small.”

Emma and Karen wasted no time and, after liaising with Kate, decided to release a ‘Pickle’ of Hedgehogs into the care homes grounds. “We purchased two build-your-own Hedgehog houses which the residents helped to build and got the wild area ready for Brent and Trent’s arrival,” added Emma.

Cuties Brent and Trent arrived at Little Bramingham on Wednesday 4th June and wasted no time meeting the residents and making the care home’s garden and their new Hedgehog houses their own. “When our new family members arrived, a group of residents joined Emma, Kate and I to say hello to the prickly pair before releasing them to enjoy their new abodes,” said Karen. “The residents adored the Hedgehogs, they thought they were so sweet and cute and they are now eager to spend time relaxing in the garden to keep an eye out for the two cheeky chappies.”

“Hedgehogs are one of Britain’s most loved wild animals, but they are sadly in decline. By creating safe spaces in our gardens and local areas, leaving wild corners, providing access through fences, and avoiding pesticides, we can all help these wonderful creatures thrive again,” added Kate.

“It’s such an important thing to do as Hedgehogs are vital parts of the ecosystem as they are an 'indicator species', if they're doing well then, the environment is doing ok,” continued Emma.

“Everyone at The BHPS works tirelessly to raise awareness of the realistic and sensible steps we can all take to help reverse the decline of Hedgehogs in the wild. Knowing that Emma, Karen and the residents will be releasing Hedgehogs back into their natural environment at Little Bramingham Farm, and building a safe habitat for them is wonderful news,” concluded Kate.