Hedgehog Awareness Week

Hedgehog Awareness Week is run by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and runs each year. This year, HAW will be taking place 4th - 10th May 2025.

The aim of HAW is to raise the profile of hedgehogs, highlighting the many threats they face and why they have seen such a huge decline of 50% since 2000. 

Hedgehogs are important as they are seen as an indicator species, which means that the health of hedgehog populations indicates the health of the UK's ecosystem as a whole - a decrease in hedgehog numbers signifies the quality of the environment has also decreased. Therefore protecting hedgehogs means protecting the wider ecosystem!

There's lots of ways to get involved in Hedgehog Awareness Week. This website features lots of activity ideas for all ages, as well as information for you to find out more about hedgehogs and what you can do to support them. One of the most impactful things that you can do is to talk to others, such as friends, family and neighbours about hedgehogs and what you can do to help them.

Hedgehog Awareness Week 2025

On Thursday 8th May, come along to our HAW special Litter Pick! Sign up here and grab a coffee after, thanks to the BetterPoints reward you’ll receive for taking part! You can also visit points on the Green Spaces Trail throughout the week to see the improvements made by the Estates and Facilities Management Landscapes team to support biodiversity on campus.

Following HAW, we will be holding our biggest mammal survey yet across campus. On Friday 9th May, there will be a Mammal survey tunnel workshop for staff and students, with another BetterPoints reward on offer following the event. At the workshop, learn about hedgehogs and how we can safely survey them and other mammals across campus. Take a survey kit to your building to set up a survey tunnel and monitor it over the following week. These surveys help inform our efforts across campus to conserve hedgehogs and other species. Sign up here to attend the workshop and/or to survey the tunnels the following week!

Come along and say hello this Staff Networks Day and join us for our Bug Hotel Workshop on Wednesday 14th May to make bug hotels out of recycled tetrapaks and natural materials. Make sure you book your spot here.

To round things off, on Tuesday 20th May our Hedgehog Champion Gracie will be giving a talk at The Lescar for Pint of Science all about hedgehogs as a flagship species for British biodiversity. Get the event details here and we'll see you there.

Dates for the Diary

Tuesday 6th May onwards: Hedgehog trail on the Green Spaces Trail

Thursday 8th May 3.30pm: HAW special litter pick

Friday 9th May 2pm: Mammal survey workshop and briefing

Monday 12th - Friday 16th May: Mammal surveys running

Wednesday 14th May 12pm: Staff Networks Day bug hotel workshop

Tuesday 20th May 7pm: Hedgehog talk at Pint of Science

Hedgehog Awareness Week 2024

In 2024, HAW ran from 5th to 11th May. We launched a Hedgehog Trail on the Green Spaces Trail designed by the EFM Landscapes team with a BetterPoints medal available for each point, as well as entry into a raffle if you visited all points! We also ran a HAW special litter pick along the trail. Staff Networks Day fell during HAW and we hosted a Bug Hotel Workshop for staff to build homes for insects out of tetrapaks and natural materials!

Hedgehog Awareness Week 2023

In 2023, HAW ran from 30th April to 6th May. We ran survey workshops and monitored survey tunnels at our student residences at Endcliffe village, and we ran a litter pick every day at different locations on campus too!

Hedgehog Awareness Week 2022

In 2022, HAW ran from 1st to 7th May. We ran survey workshops and monitored survey tunnels at our student residences at Endcliffe village, as well as holding a litter pick on campus to keep our campus clean and safe for staff, students and wildlife alike!