Spikey the hedgehog, rescued by Dringhouses Hedgehog Rescue, starred in the Archbishop of York’s Easter message.
Sarah and her husband started the rescue in September 2023, using £200 of their own cash. People donate money and hedgehogs, and locals at a pub also help out.
Spikey was rewilded in 2024 and Sarah and Anthony have helped many hedgehogs. She felt great about Spikey’s inclusion in the Easter message, and a book about their journey is planned.
Spikey went back to Bishopthorpe Palace, and Sarah says it’s great when they return them. The rescue still goes to the Palace grounds and has released many hedgehogs there since January.
The shed had their first hedgehogs, and now it has new crates and gear bought with donations and a stall at the York River Art Fair in July.
Sarah and Anthony often pay for care themselves, and they release healthy hedgehogs when they reach around 650 grammes. Corsa was rewilded in August after arriving tiny, about the size of a hen’s egg.
Sarah said they have had 68 hedgehogs so far this year, but food prices have gone up a lot. Some hedgehogs have thorny headed worms that can block intestines.
Sarah has three helpers now, and they researched the worm infection. They believe the worms come from food the hedgehogs eat before they arrive.
They lost five hedgehogs to the infection, but Holly survived and will be rewilded. It takes three months to treat the worms, and hedgehogs must be clear to go back.