A hedgehog with spiky quills walks through a forest floor covered with green ferns and fallen leaves.

Help your Hedgehogs!

Winter is coming – and this may mean that some hedgehogs who have not been able to find the right kind of food over the last few months may be underweight and struggling.

 

How do I know if a hedgehog is in trouble?

  • It’s out in the day time – slow moving hedgehogs in the daytime are not normal
  • It is not moving well – a sluggish or wobbly hedgehog in the open
  • There are a flies buzzing around it – may indicate it is ill
  • Small young hedgehogs out by themselves – may have lost their mother and need help

 

How can I help?

If you have found a hedgehog who looks to need rescuing there are some immediate things you can do to help:

  • Use gardening gloves or a folded towel to collect it up, bring it indoors and put it in a high-sided box with an old towel or fleece in the bottom for the hedgehog to hide under.
  • Fill a hot water bottle so that when it is wrapped in a towel there is a nice gentle heat coming through and put that in the bottom of the box with the hedgehog, ensuring it has room to get off the bottle should it get too warm. Make sure the bottle is always kept warm (if allowed to go cold it will chill the hedgehog and do more harm than good). During particularly hot weather providing heat may not be necessary.
  • Put the box somewhere quiet.
  • Offer meaty cat or dog food and fresh water

These steps will help the hedgehog warm up and give it the opportunity to stabilise.

 

Call the experts

Once you have a hedgehog in a safe place you should contact one of the groups who can help find someone able to offer the hedgehog specialised care – below are contact sites you can call for help:

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society

Web: https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk

Tel: 01584 890 801

 

Warwickshire Hedgehog rescue

Web: https://warwickshirehedgehogrescue.org/Contact-Us/

Tel: list of numbers on the contact page

 

Logo with two overlapping speech bubbles on the left, one blue and one orange. To the right, the text "Northamptonshire Talking" is written, with "Northamptonshire" in blue and "Talking" in orange.

2024 Crime and Community Survey launched

2024 Crime and Community Survey

Today sees the launch of our annual survey looking at your experience of crime and your connection to your local community. The data from the survey goes into a report which we publish on the website, and use to help prioritise our work.

This year we’re working with academic staff at the University of Northumbria who have provided some optional questions at the end of the survey related to health. This is linked to their studies on fear of crime and health outcomes.

The survey takes about ten minutes to complete, and if you can spare the time, we really hope that you will make your views known to us – it really is appreciated!

Take the survey now: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XS85JK5

Logo of West Northamptonshire Council featuring a stylized rose with intertwined green, blue, and red segments on the left and the text "West Northamptonshire Council" on the right.

Helping our residents to stop smoking with free support

The start of October marks Stoptober, a national campaign which encourages people to quit smoking for good.
Smoking remains the biggest behavioural cause of preventable death, with 64,000 deaths a year and quitting is one of the best things a smoker can do for their health. If you quit for 28 days, you’re five times more likely to quit for good. That is why West Northamptonshire Council will be hosting events out in the local community to encourage people across the area to join thousands of others who are committing to quitting this October.

People across West Northamptonshire can access free support through the Council’s Stop Smoking Service. There is a wide-range of support including a 12-week course with sessions either on the telephone or face-face, as well additional support with e-cigarettes and nicotine replacement therapy which can be delivered straight your door. If you’d like to speak to someone about support this Stoptober join one of the drop in sessions at:

  • Friday 4 October 9am – 4pm at Weston Favell shopping centre, outside Costa
  • Tuesday 8 October 9am – 4pm at Grosvenor Shopping centre, outside River Island on the ground floor
  • Thursday 10 October 9am – 4pm at Northampton General Hospital at the South Entrance outside Marks & Spencer

Cllr Matt Golby, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Adult Care, Public Health and Regulatory Services said: “When you stop smoking good things can start to happen, within days or weeks you have more energy, and your senses of taste and smell improve. Not only this, but quitting could save the average smoker £2,000 per year. Quitting this autumn could ease financial pressures and you could see significant improvements to physical and mental health.

“If you’ve quit before, or are looking to save money and improve your wellbeing – I’d encourage you to reach out to our stop smoking service to find out more about the free support we can offer to help you quit for good.”

To find out more information please visit www.westnorthants.gov.uk/stopsmoking or you can get in touch with the service today on 0300 126 5700.