THERE’LL be no marks for guessing which charity pub landlord Andy Link will be supporting when he serves up pints of Old Prickly at the Riverside Inn in Aymestrey.

Chef and patron, Andy has adopted the British Hedgehog Preservation Society as the award-winning pub’s charity for this year and he also hopes to give the local population a helping hand with plans for installing hedgehog homes in the garden.

“Hedgehogs were a regular feature in my childhood but now they are seldom seen,” says Andy. In fact, it is now estimated that there are fewer than one million hedgehogs left in the UK, down from two million in the mid 1990s and around 36 million in the 1950s.

Ecologists stress that more work needs to be done to pinpoint the exact reasons behind this dramatic decline. Habitat loss, poor management of hedgerows, new roads and housing development have all contributed to the figures. Tens of thousands of hedgehogs are also killed on the roads each year, and climate change is also believed to be responsible.

At the Riverside, fundraising events and collections will be raising money for the society this year.

Says Andy: “We will be putting Hobson’s Old Prickly on tap soon to highlight our support for hedgehogs.” He explains that Hobson’s already supports the charity, having raised £40,000 so far.

“We have a two-acre garden here and we are planning on installing hedgehog homes to provide a safe place for them to hibernate and as a nest for mothers to raise their young,” says Andy. “Hedgehogs are a gardeners’s friend as they enjoy eating slugs so we will enjoy a mutual benefit.”

Chief Executive of the society, Fay Vass comments: “We are delighted that the Riverside Inn has chosen us as their charity of the year, hedgehogs need all the help they can get. Small changes by individuals can make a real difference, such as providing a CD case sized gap at the bottom of boundary fences and walls to allow access to habitat. We look forward to working with Andy and his team to help spread the word to their customers.”