The shed was covered in hedgehog decorations. ‘I ❤️ Hedgehogs’, said a small hanging plaque. ‘All guests must be approved by Hedgehog’, read a metal plate. ‘Home is where the hedgehogs are’ was featured on another ornament. A small hedgehog stuffy was next to water bottles. This shed was built with love and care for the small creatures that Garforth Hedgehogs Rescue, holders of a Wildlife Care Badge, looked after and let out into the wild after their successful recovery.
“The shed site was my eldest son and I- he designed it, he was the main one to build it. It’s very much bespoke. We were very lucky that Hipco came and supported us in putting this together. That was three or four years ago, maybe.”
A representative from Garforth Hedgehogs Rescue had kindly agreed to speak to me about the aims, purposes, and details of the organisation.
“We look after hedgehogs, any one of them that’s injured. We take them in and attempt to get them rescued and back out into the wild.”
He told me about how the organisation started.
“We found a hedgehog in our garden that was trapped between some rocks, took it to a local rescue. They asked if we wanted to look after it, gave us advice (about) what to do, and that started the whole thing off!”
“That was about ten, eleven years ago?”
So what about the number of hedgehogs the Rescue looked after?
“Last year we had 230 hedgehogs. Our average is about 222 a year. It seems to be increasing.”
I was told about the tasks that comprised the day-to-day of looking after the animals, too!
“We will clean all the bedding, give them new food and new water, do an overall quick check, they get weighed, and then any medication is given to them.”
I was also informed that there were extra checks throughout the day that ensured that the current hedgehogs living in the shed were all right.
“We try and ask the finders if they have a name. If they don’t, then we’ll come up with a name- the type of hedgehog, where they are from… we had flowers (too), chocolates, Friends characters…”
The hedgehog that I saw that day was called Miles, who, clearly feeling safe, came out of his ball and posed for the camera!
Many hedgehogs are photographed and chronicled on Garforth Hedgehog Rescue’s social media page, which has about 6000 followers as of March 2026.
“That started quite a long time ago. It was just to get our name out there, we had followers who wanted to know what was going on, and it was just an easy way of doing that. Since then it’s expanded. It’s quite a popular post now, and we get people following us from all over the country and abroad, which is quite nice.”
“We work very closely with Micklefield (Hedgehog Rescue) and Castleford, but we are also heavily involved with a lot of the rescues in and around West Yorkshire and beyond.”
I asked if the representative could give me any information about what a local resident could do if they spotted a hedgehog out and about that was in trouble or ill.
“Get it to us as quickly as possible. Put it in a high-sided box, give it some warmth, don’t give it anything to eat, (take it to) a nice quiet place.”
“If they’re out in the day, and not moving with a purpose, then the hog needs help.”
The Facebook page for Garforth Hedgehogs Rescue can be found here. Any enquiries can be sent straight to their Facebook Messenger!
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