Help secure planning permission for a vital East Anglia wildlife hospital

We are the Suffolk Hedgehog Hospital, established in 2009 as a sanctuary for sick and injured hedgehogs. Originating in a humble garden shed, the hospital has now expanded across multiple buildings, taking over founder Sue’s garden and home. At any given time, the hospital and its team of volunteers care for over 100 creatures, providing them with much-needed assistance before releasing them back into the wild.

Registered as a charity in 2020, the hospital takes in 1000 critically endangered hedgehogs annually, as well as other wildlife in dire need of aid. There have been closures of many other local rescue centres in the last 18 months so, unfortunately, the number and variety of species we see is increasing daily.

At the same time, our vital work has become unsustainable, because the hospital has far outgrown its current premises.

We are desperate to create a dedicated wildlife rescue centre on a 27-acre site on the Suffolk/Cambridgeshire border, at Kirtling, near Newmarket. The site is intended for a purpose-built wildlife hospital facility with a wildlife rehabilitation area.

However, planning permission for our planned sympathetic and environmentally friendly structure, created from recycled materials, is far from assured, due to change of use regulations, as the site is on agricultural land.

Will you show you’re behind the aims of the Hedgehog Hospital, and sign our petition asking for planning permission to be granted?

We know that the new centre would be completely in alignment with the values and needs of the countryside. It would be of immense benefit to the natural world locally, and to the thousands of kind and concerned people who bring sick and injured wild creatures to us every year.

But we need your help to show the planning authority that there’s public support for the new Hospital. Please sign now and help guarantee the future of the Hospital and its thousands of vulnerable furry, feathery and spiny patients.

If we don’t get planning permission, it’s no exaggeration to say that we too will become a statistic, like many other local wildlife hospitals. Closure would leave a huge hole, not only in local wildlife rescue provision but also in our community of volunteers, who thrive on the meaningful experience of supporting the animals here for their own mental and physical health.

Please sign now — help us to protect this critically endangered species and preserve local wildlife in desperate need of care.

Thank you!

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DONATE TO THE HOSPITAL PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK TO OUR JUST GIVING PAGE https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/shh-hospitalplanning

(Please note, the red button below is fundraising for change.org, not directly to the hospital.)