Dear Witney,

Thank you. On Sunday 13th October you came in your hundreds to celebrate hedgehogs. I was so nervous - I had arranged the day and then become embroiled in a heavy cold and finishing a book ... and feared that I had not done enough to raise awareness. Would there be just one cake to judge? Would anyone come? Sure - I visited schools and met with the council and got the generous support of the Mayor, Duncan Enright - and tweeted and wrote about it on here. And my goodness - how my (nervous) faith was rewarded.

For hedgehogs to thrive they need a flourishing ecosystem. And that is why the day was about far more than hedgehogs (and cake) ... the local  Badger Group were there (and hold your retort - yes - of course I am aware of the complicated relationship between badgers and hedgehogs - if you think it is easily solved you are probably wrong), the young author Alex White came with his first book, RSPB, BBOWT, Oxfordshire Mammal Group, Hedgehog Friendly Town, Butterfly Conservation, Meadow in my Garden, Wychwood Volunteers, Lower Windrush Project - all came and shared their love and knowledge about our natural world. I was deeply moved by the experience - when I had a moment to look up from talking to so many people.

It was a delight to meet some of you! Thank you to all who came and said hello. And thank you to the amazing woman who is now going to get Hedgehog Street leaflets into all the new houses that have sprung up around her village - she was an inspiration - quietly determined to make sure that these new households are encouraged to build in hedgehog highways. It made me realise even more how vital it is that this petition gets some teeth ... planning guidance is a good start - but we need to make sure that there is no need for people like her to have to go door-to-door asking people to help hedgehogs. It needs to be built into the fabric of all new developments.

And finally - to the cakes - they were amazing. In fact there were so many it was decided (probably a good thing) to judge them on their aesthetic ... The Great Hedgehog Bake-Off is now very much a 'thing' and there has already been a call to repeat this event next year! We had five prizes - and thank you so much to the esteemed poet Pam Ayres and the most entertaining musician, Nick Cope, for your generosity. 

The event showed how much we as individuals care about hedgehogs and wildlife in general. Sometimes it feels like we should be handing big issues over to government to sort out - that is the way our hierarchical society is designed. But more and more it seems that we cannot wait for or rely upon Westminster. We have to become activists in our own lives. And while my wife was busy filming the wonderfully diverse protests of Extinction Rebellion, I was meeting and encouraging hedgehog lovers to take action as well. We have to become the change we want to see - we cannot wait any longer for someone else to step in and protect our precious nature. We have to act. Thank you.