Dorset Hedgehog Rescue is the new name for Hamworthy Hedgehog Rescue to reflect our new location and that we will be working for hedgehogs across Dorset.
Hamworthy Hedgehog Rescue was a home-based hedgehog rescue in Poole which operated for 8 years until 2023, taking in up to 750 sick, injured and orphaned hoglets and hedgehogs per year.
The new facility will allow space for education, training, research and other hedgehog related activities.
The Dorset Hedgehog Rescue Centre is located in an historic barn near Bere Regis, close to Poole, Dorchester and Blandford. The building houses the Dorset Hedgehog Rescue centre on the ground floor and a new administration and training facility above, which will host meetings, training, education and other hedgehog related activities.
We are a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, registered charity number 1186680.
We can house 113 hedgehogs at any one time, and we expect to deal with more than 750 hedgehogs per annum.
This moves the hedgehog rescue from a home-based operation into a building with a centre manager and a team of volunteers that support our work.
We’re open 7 days a week, 365 days per year to care for sick, injured or abandoned hedgehogs. We are NOT open to the public, except for admissions, as this would be too stressful for the hedgehogs.
The health and welfare of the hedgehogs is always our priority.
The strategic work of Dorset Hedgehog Rescue supports frontline rescue work and creates greater public awareness of hedgehogs and what they need to survive.
Key to our work is a network of volunteers, who help with hedgehog husbandry, collecting and delivering hedgehogs, administration and 101 other tasks.
We give talks, run projects with local schools, provide training for people who manage grounds such as parks, verges and school grounds, co-ordinate with vets and vet nurses, and keep abreast with the latest research on Erinaceus Europaeus being carried out nationally and internationally.
Our centre is not a visitor attraction and is not open to the public. Our work with hedgehogs is done behind closed doors for the hedgehogs’ welfare and to give them the best possible second chance at life in the wild.
