Shropshire Council rangers at The Mere in Ellesmere are delighted to be hosting a demonstration on how to make a hedgehog footprint tunnel on April 6.

They will be welcoming Stuart Edmunds from The Shropshire Wildlife Trust and chairman of The Shropshire Mammal Group, and Julie Burroughs, a dedicated volunteer from the Shelter Wildlife Together programme to deliver the demonstration. The Shelter Wildlife Together campaign began in January 2016 as a single project. The idea is to use recycled goods and create safe havens for wildlife. The main aims of this project is to bring the community together, including local businesses and schools, to help preserve wildlife. The Business Environmental Support Scheme for Telford (BESST) have been the head of the project, donating products such as pallets, tubes, corrugated plastic, cardboard, tape and even dried eggshells for more wildlife-friendly gardening.

The project was adopted at the two Severn Hospice sites in Shropshire, with volunteers building bug boxes and bird houses for the patients to paint and fill during creative therapy sessions. These were later set up within the hospice grounds, creating a happy atmosphere for patients, as they were able to watch their creations become homes for a variety of birds and insects, including blue tits, great tits, mason wasps, mason bees and cuckoo wasps.

Footprint tunnels opens a door to explore what wildlife you have in your garden. If you find out you have a hedgehog, after this educational workshop you will know how to help your hedgehog.

Learn how to build a hedgehog home and what food is safe to feed them during the harsh autumn months, leading up to hibernation during winter. This workshop will show you how to create a wildlife-friendly garden.

The family fun event will begin at the Wardens Bungalow in Ellesmere on Friday April 6, 11am to 1pm. Adults £3 and children £2.

This includes a hedgehog colouring pictures and advice booklet for children, put together by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.

Please call 07458 087305 to book your place or email penny.wellman@shropshire.gov.uk.