Sally Mutton is running an open garden event in Strete on July 29th to raise money for Prickles in a Pickle’s new hospital build.

Prickles in a Pickle are a small Hedgehog Rescue Charity located in South Devon that take in over 1200 hedgehogs a year, all of which are eithe from disturbed nests, wounded or sick.

The charity hope to raise awareness of hedgehogs whilst their volunteers work to rescue, treat, rehabilitate and release them, in response to dramatic population decline of hedgehogs that has occurred in the last 20 years. They also want to educate the public on how to encourage and look after wildlife in their gardens and surrounding areas.

Sally's ‘recycled garden’ has features such as a polystyrene box waterfall and rainwater collection system, and she is opening it to the public to raise money for the hospital whilst learning more about the different components of her garden. She is charging an entry of £3.50 for the fundraiser, which includes a coffee, tea or Pimms and cake.

She said: “The idea of my garden was to make it as wildlife and as pretty as possible for as little as possible. During the day I will be answering questions on how I have built many things in the garden, including my rainwater collection system and passive watering.

It also ties in with the re-vamp of my new website www.thegardenrooms.co.uk where I am now offering Reiki to Humans and animals.”

The open garden will take place from 10am - 4pm.

A spokesperson for Prickles in a Pickle said: “We currently operate from the founders home and we have now outgrown the property and need a purpose built hospital. We are run entirely by volunteers and therefore every penny we need to build this hospital will need to be raised. At any one time we will have up to 165 hedgehogs in our care plus nursing mothers and babies in a barn, and another volunteer with up to 20 babies for 4 hourly feeds. We cover a huge area of South Devon and its important we have our own hospital. Visit the website: www.pricklesinapickle.co.uk.’