Hedgehog friendly campus

6th November 2023 – Tags: T Levels

A group of T Level Management and Administration students are leading efforts to make Paston College a hedgehog friendly campus.

The student-led project will see the college campus made as hedgehog friendly as possible (for example by introducing hedgehog houses and bug hotels), monitoring of hedgehog activity using wildlife cameras, as well as fundraising and awareness-raising amongst the college community.

With hedgehog numbers having seen an alarming decline in recent years, due to things like habitat loss, building developments and garden hazards, we want to make our campus a place where hedgehogs can flourish.

Student information display on hedgehogs

The student-led project aims to make the campus more hedgehog friendly whilst raising awareness of what we can all do to help hedgehogs.

A student-led project

Specialising in team leadership and management, our 2nd year T Level Management and Administration students were ideally placed to lead the project.

T Level student Hannah Claxton summarises the aims of the project as follows:

We want to provide hedgehog houses for the hedgehogs before they go into hibernation, which is around January, so they have a safe place to go. We want to help improve the campus environment, so they have safe spaces all over campus.

We’re also trying to raise awareness in general, such as checking for hedgehogs before you light bonfires and knowing what to do if you come across an injured hedgehog.”

The students will be working with local businesses and voluntary organisations, college grounds staff, and other members of the college community, to achieve these aims.

In planning and launching the project, the group have already demonstrated a wide range of leadership skills, from research and fact-funding, to effective time management and event planning, to teamwork, allocation of job roles, communications, advertising and promotion, and working with outside organisations.

The T Level Management and Administration students leading the Hedgehog Friendly Campus project.

Successful launch event

The students held a very successful launch event in the Tutor Hub on 6th November, featuring a bake sale, raffle, hedgehog protection pledge tree, and information displays and quizzes.

Four young hedgehogs that are being looked after by Hedgehog Haven North Norfolk were a big hit with students and staff alike. Thank you to Marian Grimes for supporting the event and sharing her hedgehog knowledge with us.

Reflecting on the launch event, T Level student Charlie Broadbent said:

There has been a good number of students who have been asking questions and have been really interested.

I would like to see this leading to other groups at college taking on other sustainability projects.”

Marian Grimes from Hedgehog Haven North Walsham introduced students to some of the hedgehogs currently in her care.