Welcome to those receiving this for the first time, welcome to the regulars and welcome to those who have fished it from their spam filters! Well over 100 updates sent out so far and I still have a struggle to get all the news I want out to you! This update has three main component - one exciting, one sad and one that will annoy those who think I should not promote my other work (just warning you now so you can prepare your outrage!)
First off - The Great Hedgehog Bake-Off - is back and this time as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Hedgehog Street campaign that I help run. Starting yesterday (sorry) you have two weeks to concoct the most amazing cakes - we even have a celebrity judge, none other than GBBO finalist Kim-Joy Hewlett. To her great (and our) disappointment these cakes will have to be judged purely on their aesthetic qualities.
Don’t worry if everything goes horribly wrong - submit your bloopers as well (I reckon they deserve a prize too!) But be aware that we already know about the funny hedgehog cake pictures on the internet and if suspicions are raised we will do a reverse image search … so no cheating - just get creative and get cooking!
To join in the cake competition you will need to be a Hedgehog Champion - it is completely free and I have just noticed we are a smidgen away from 100,000!!! It could be you that tips over the line!
Many of you will have very fond memories of the actor John Challis, who sadly died on Sunday. While he was most famous for playing 'Boycie' in Only Fools and Horse, he was also a really strong and consistent fan of hedgehogs. He was a patron of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and was generous in using his celebrity status to promote the work of many other hedgehog campaigners and carers - including regularly pushing messages about this petition out to a wider audience. I had the pleasure of meeting him - he was so un-showbusinessy - just a really kind and funny man.
And finally - for now - I have a new book about to be launched. It is not about hedgehogs … apparently three books about hedgehogs is considered enough these days … there is a fourth in the wings though! No, I have written a book about the amazing ecosystem engineer that is the beaver. The species we destroyed, drove to extinction in the UK, is making a come back thanks to the amazing work of people like Derek Gow. There is so much good that will come from the return of beavers - not just for nature, but for all of us. Increased biodiversity, increased bioabundance, decreased pollution, decreased flooding - it is a win:win:win:win.
The Beaver Book is published by Graffeg - who did The Hedgehog Book - and looks gorgeous (I was not responsible for the design!) - and while you can get it from them directly, or from the massive online retailers who pay far less tax than they should, the wonderful WildSounds have got it on offer with a rather pleasing £2 discount - and the first consignment are also signed by me ... that was a LONG night listening to the Proms, writing my name a thousand times!!
If you have questions about how best to build hedgehog highways into your garden, please can I point you towards the Hedgehog Highways Facebook group - - I am sorry that this will put a few of you off but the messaging function on here is not very easy to use, especially as there are now over a million of us!
I am going to have to do another update soon - I realised there is an entire new thing I need to write about … the wonderful Dorset Hedgehog Conference I was speaking at over the weekend - you see - it never ends!!
Thank you so much for your continued support. I have not forgotten the purpose of this petition - and now there is a new housing minister … Michael Gove … I have a new target in my sights!