Hedgehog rescue hopes to expand as demand grows

The centre is home to more than 200 hedgehogs

A hedgehog rescue sanctuary is looking for a new premises after outgrowing its current home due to an increase in starving animals and a bumper breeding season.

Castleford Hedgehog Rescue houses more than 200 animals and is run by mother and daughter Jill and Beth Campsill, who volunteer alongside their full-time jobs.

They began the project 11 years ago and it opened to the public in 2015.

Beth said it was a 24-7 job, adding: “It’s all voluntary but we’re hoping once we find somewhere to expand I can quit work.”

Beth works in retail for B&M and Jill is a care worker who often does 12-hour shifts between hedgehog care.

Beth, 27, said they were looking for a 3-4 acre site with or without a barn near Castleford.

She said: “We only had a tiny shed when we first started.

"We got a £500 grant from a local recycling centre to buy a big shed and then we had a bigger shed, but we’ve outgrown that because people are more aware."

She raised concerns over the impact of housebuilding on hedgehog habitats.

She said: “There’s hardly any natural food left for a hedgehog any more – there’s a shortage of the food they eat like frogs and beetles.

"Slugs and snails only make up 1% of their diets.

"We’ve seen lots starve to death.”

Beth Campsill said the centre hoped to expand to care for other animals

The rescue centre is experiencing a busier-than-normal period, as hedgehogs are in their final round of breeding for the year.

“During baby season it gets really busy," Beth said.

"September is the final time they have babies.

"They have up to two sets and one to 10 babies in each one, but it’s most common to have three or four babies."

She added: “I had one give birth in a bin liner in the back of a van once.”

Beth said her ambition was to expand to support a wider range of animals.

She said: “For the first few years the focus will be on hedgehogs and then I want to expand to other animals because the rescue centres here are oversubscribed so people are travelling as far as Whitby, which is three or four hours away.”

Even at the current site, they sometimes open their doors to other creatures.

Beth said: “I’ve had people bring me pigeons, crows - we just raised five ducklings - squirrels, mice, rats.

"But we’ve never had any badgers or foxes.

"Someone once tried to bring a deer but we didn’t have room."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.