Housebuilder’s trailblazing Hedgehog Highways campaign in running for national award
24 Sep 2020

A housebuilder’s industry-first campaign to protect hedgehogs and other creatures has been shortlisted for a major national award. Vistry Group’s Hedgehog Highways initiative, which will see special pathways made at all existing and future Bovis and Linden Homes locations wherever possible, has been named a finalist in the Housebuilder Awards 2020, which is run in partnership with the National House Building Council and Home Builders Federation. To view a video of the housebuilder’s Hedgehog Highways initiative, launched in January with the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS), click here. The campaign is a finalist in the Best Community Initiative category and the ceremony will be held, virtually, in December. Amit Patel, group environmental manager at Vistry, said: “Vistry is delighted to be shortlisted as a finalist in the Housebuilder Awards 2020 for our Hedgehog Highways initiative, which is backed by the BHPS and has many supporters up and down the country. “This trailblazing Hedgehog Highways campaign captures the imagination of many of our customers and colleagues who want the very best for their local wildlife and we are delighted to install these wherever we can at our developments. This award win would really top off our commitment and dedication to hedgehogs and other creatures who live alongside our home buyers.” Vistry is developing the highways ?" created through specially-marked holes in fencing and other barriers at ground level, allowing access between selected gardens and wilder areas, and supplemented by the building of hedgehog homes in green spaces. The housebuilder has launched photography and drawing competitions for prizes including a hedgehog home and money to donate to a wildlife charity of the winner’s choice. Hedgehogs walk more than a mile every night so need to move around freely between gardens. Literature is being provided for customers to inform them about the best ways to help the much-loved creatures. People can encourage hedgehogs by putting a hedgehog home in their garden or a log pile, which provides natural food and shelter for hedgehogs. Ponds are also suitable if there is an escape route in the form of a ramp or a sloping edge. Hedgehogs can swim well but cannot escape steep, slippery-sided ponds. The Housebuilder Awards 2020 will take place, online, on 3rd December.

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