Welcome to English (WTE) helps newcomers to Hull – mostly refugees and asylum seekers – to learn English, make new friends and adapt to living in Hull, through community participation. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust have been privileged to work in partnership with WTE over the last couple of years, supporting students to take action for nature in a whole host of ways, from urban tree planting to coastal beach cleans to creating their very own nature-friendly allotment garden!

More recently, conversations between the group about endangered species led to surprise among some students at discovering that our European hedgehog is under threat here in the UK – a very different situation compared to the African and Asian homelands of some of the WTE students, where they encounter their own native species regularly – in some cases even on a restaurant menus! 

On realising about the plight of our ‘hogs in Hull, students resolved to do something to make a difference, and so meetings were held, designs researched and plans hatched - finally resulting in sessions being organised in partnership with Hull Libraries Makerspace, where tools, training and facilitation enabled students to develop their woodwork skills as part of successfully building a batch of brilliant boxes.

With many of WTE’s students living in hotels in the city centre, the majority sadly do not have a suitable space in which to host a ‘hog house themselves - and so the next phase of the project was to link up with other organisations around Hull, including schools, community gardens and residential homes, where more suitable habitat could be found. 

Partners including Rewilding Youth, Hull Rainbow Garden, Age UK Hull & East Yorkshire, Adelaide Primary School and Holderness House Trust have been delighted to receive a hedgehog box, and as part of passing these on it has also been possible for us to organise trips out for WTE’s students to experience these settings, learn some new skills and build connections for future collaborative projects and events – so a real win-win for nature and for people!

Welcome to English’s action is much needed, as hedgehog populations in the UK are in sharp decline, particularly in rural areas where numbers have fallen by up to 75% since 2000. Installing a hedgehog box in our gardens or green spaces is one way we can support these under-pressure creatures, and hopefully help to reverse this population decline.  

‘Hog houses are used by hedgehogs for a number of purposes – they may use them as temporary shelters for resting or a female may even take up longer-term residency to nest and raise hoglets during late spring and early summer! The most common usage, however, is for hibernation, where these cosy homes can offer valuable protection from both the cold weather and any would-be predators, allowing our much-loved ‘hogs to overwinter peacefully – a crucial resource in the face of shrinking natural habitat.