Hedgehogs in Bangor will be living in comfort and style this year, as local social enterprise Antur Waunfawr uses recycled materials to create a new home for the endangered animals.
The new hedgehog house will be placed in the garden of a tenant of local housing association, Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd (CCG) at Llys Dewi Sant in Bangor. As part of their Welsh Housing Quality Standard improvement programme, CCG have installed new fencing panels at the property. However, the tenant was concerned that the work may affect the habitat of a hedgehog that was in her garden.
After speaking to the tenant, Alan Thomas, who manages environmental projects for CCG, contacted workers at Antur Waunfawr, who were happy to help.
Alan Thomas from CCG said: “The tenant had seen a hedgehog coming and going in her garden, and was concerned that putting up new fencing would cut off its pathway. After talking to the tenant, CCG arranged for a small opening to be made in the fence so that the hedgehog could come and go, and I called Antur Waunfawr to ask them to build a small hedgehog house so that we could make the animal as comfortable as possible!
“At the moment, CCG is carrying out a lot of work in the areas on and surrounding our estates. Our tenants and residents across Gwynedd were urged to fill in a questionnaire, stating how they would like to see their area improved. The most popular request was for more parking facilities, so it was great to get a totally different and unique request from a tenant.”
Antur Waunfawr have been working with CCG for over three years, recycling old kitchens removed from tenants homes before brand new modern kitchens are fitted as part of the improvement programme. Typically, the pieces of the old kitchens are used by workers at Antur to create unique pieces of art which are sold in the craft shop in Waunfawr, but they were more than willing to try something different this time around.
Huw Davies, Deputy Chief Executive at Antur Waunfawr, said: “Our workers are used to creating pieces of art from the recycled kitchens, so the hedgehog house was a welcome challenge! It’s great to be able to reuse materials in order to make something useful – recycling reduces landfill whilst also creating job opportunities, which is what Antur is all about.”
