Warwickshire leading housebuilder Barratt Homes has donated a hedgehog home to Paddox Primary School to help the hedgehogs move home when their winter hibernation ends.
The garden inhabitants become inactive over the colder months of the year and a hedgehog home is the perfect hideaway to give them the shelter and warmth they need.
Students were delighted to receive the donation as it will help the wildlife close to the school thrive and will give the pupils an opportunity to observe and learn about the habits of hedgehogs from a safe distance.
Jane Le Poidevin, Headteacher at Paddox Primary School, said: “We very much appreciate the donation of a hedgehog home here at Paddox! This gift will come in great use for our forest school lessons as our children can observe and monitor the resident hedgehogs.”
Barratt Homes has been partnered with the RSPB since 2014. The agreement is the first of its kind in the UK and aims to boost natural habitats at Barratt Homes’ developments across the country.
Unfortunately in July 2020, hedgehogs were added to the Red List for British Mammals, meaning that they had become classified as being vulnerable to extinction. Barratt Homes has been focusing on supporting wildlife both in the gardens of the homes they build and in the surrounding communities.
Tanya Silk, Sales Director at Barratt Homes West Midlands, said: “We have been working with the RSPB for close to eight years now and want to ensure that we’re doing as much as we can to retain and build upon the natural habitat around our developments.
“Hopefully this hedgehog home will help protect the local wildlife from the harsh winter weather and will allow the hedgehogs to thrive at Paddox Primary School. We encourage everyone to do their part in their own homes to preserve these animals with hedgehog homes and highways.”
Barratt Homes is building close to Paddox Primary School at Elborough Place in Rugby and Aston Grange in Upper Lighthorne.
