Midlands’ housebuilder helps school children ‘give a hog a home’

School children in the Midlands were delighted to receive a nature-friendly gift from a local housebuilder.

Redrow Midlands donated hedgehog homes to six schools across the division, including Redhill Primary Academy in Telford, which has been placed in the school’s grounds to provide a safe haven for creatures to rest, hibernate or raise their young. 

Redrow’s biodiversity strategy seeks to put the natural environment at the heart of its developments and the lives of the people who reside there. This includes initiatives, such as creating hedgehog highways in developments across the country.

Claire Whiting, Headteacher at Redhill Primary Academy, said: “We were delighted to receive the hedgehog home from Redrow Midlands. We spend a lot of time educating the children about the sustainability, the environment, the relationship between humans and nature and how we should be respectful to one another.

“It’s wonderful to be able to put this learning into practice with showing the pupils some of the methods we can use to protect certain species. The children really enjoyed choosing a place to put the hedgehog home and watched eagerly for the arrival of a spiky animal who was ready to hibernate.”

Elaine Cartwright, Sales Director for Redrow Midlands, said: “The hedgehog is one of Britain’s best-loved animals and there are sadly said to be fewer than one million left in the UK. 

“Part of our commitment at Redrow is to contribute to thriving communities, and to help provide a better way to live, so we’re raising awareness about the plight of the hedgehog among children.

“I am really pleased we were able to donate six homes to schools across the region – all of which will now benefit from learning more about the nature in our gardens.”

Redrow’s biodiversity strategy includes a net gain approach to biodiversity, ensuring every development has green space or landscaped communal areas where wildlife can flourish. Developments may feature green routes for walking and cycling, newly created orchards or meadows, and wetland areas like ponds and swales.  

Redrow is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and has set ambitious interim targets for both its direct and indirect emissions to help limit global warming to 1.5°C.