Home Builder’s Donation Helped Hedgehogs Through Winter

A LANCASHIRE based hedgehog rescue centre, which rescued and rehabilitated over 150 hedgehogs this winter, has thanked Redrow for much needed funding.

left to Right: Chorley Hedgehog Rescue volunteer Glenda Frearson, founder Janette Jones and Redrow’s Pam Roberts

Established in 2015, the Chorley Hedgehog Rescue Centre, a notfor-profit Community Interest Company (C.I.C.) is run by founder Janette Jones and a small team of dedicated volunteers.

“We rescue and rehabilitate wild hedgehogs that are sick, injured or orphaned and release them back into the wild when healthy, with the aim of increasing the population of hedgehogs in Chorley and Lancashire,” said Glenda Frearson, who has been volunteering at the centre for the past five years.

“The rescue centre does not receive any government funding towards the £60k annual operating costs and relies solely on donations from the public.”

The team at the rescue centre applied for one of Redrow’s £500 Sycamore Manor Community Grants, which saw four Leyland based community groups share a sum of £2,000.

“Redrow’s very generous donation has helped the rescue to continue its valuable work; to house, feed, rehydrate and medicate all of our rescued poorly hedgehogs during yet another very tough winter,” said Glenda.

“We had 180 hedgehogs to feed so the community fund donation has certainly made a positive difference in helping us to continue to operate during an incredibly difficult time. The rescue provides an environment for volunteers to learn about hedgehogs and contribute to their care and rehabilitation.

“We must ensure that we have sufficient trained volunteers on site 365 days of the year to monitor every single hedgehog in our care,” added Glenda.

“It is very important work and we are very lucky to have such an amazing and compassionate team to look after the hedgehogs.”

Sian Pitt, sales director at Redrow Lancashire, said: “The team at Chorley Hedgehog Rescue Centre work hard to look after these endangered mammals. We received several nominations for the charity to receive a community grant so they are clearly a muchappreciated local organisation and we are pleased to hear that our community grant helped the rescue over the winter months.”

The centre is currently welcoming new volunteers, for further information on volunteering or how to donate visit www.chorleyhedgehogrescue.co.uk

For more details about Sycamore Manor, see www.redrow.co.uk/sycamoreman or call 01772 340811 or visit the sales centre, open daily.

I’M SARA, THE LYTHAM GIN LADY!

I escaped from teaching Chemistry and have spent the last four years making gin and my passion is now sharing information about everyone’s favourite juniper-based spirit as well as easy to make cocktails using some of my awardwinning products.

The Bramble

This is a truly British cocktail, invented in London in the 1980s, apparently for the celebrities Naomi Campbell and Boy George. It really should be made with Crème de Mure but Crème de Cassis or Chambord are much easier to find and work just as well. Pour the gin, sugar syrup and lemon juice into a cocktail shaker, add the ice cubes and shake well. Place the crushed ice into a short tumbler and pour in the mixture. Slowly pour the Crème de Cassis or Chambord into the ice. It should sink to the bottom. Garnish with the lemon and blackberries. I like to add a little extra purple gin at this point for colour.

Ingredients:

• 50ml Gin (I use Lytham Gin Positively

Purple)

• 15ml Sugar Syrup

• 25ml Lemon Juice

• 15ml Creme de Cassis or Chambord

• 3 Ice Cubes

• Crushed Ice

• Blackberries

• Lemon Slice

I’ve loved gin for many years and I’m fascinated by its history. Gin’s roots can be traced to 11th-century Benedictine Monks in southern Italy, in a monastery surrounded by an area rich in juniper trees. The monks distilled juniper infused wine to make sharp, fiery, alcoholic tonics which they used as medicines. As a medicinal herb, juniper had been an essential part of doctors’ kits for centuries: the Romans burned juniper branches for purification, and medieval plague doctors stuffed the beaks of their plague masks with juniper to supposedly protect them from the Black Death. Juniper tonic wines were used for treating for coughs, colds, pains, strains, ruptures and cramps. These were a popular cure-all, though some thought these tonic wines to be a little too popular, and consumed for enjoyment rather than medicinal purposes. Hardly surprising given how much we enjoy gin today! I’ve created two new cocktail recipes which are certain to please everyone.

Cucumber Cooler

This is really just a fancy G&T but it is absolutely delicious. Place the ice and cucumber slices in a tall glass. Add the gin, simple syrup and top up with tonic. If using lemonade, leave out the syrup or it may be too sweet. Garnish with mint.

Ingredients:

• 60ml Gin (I’ve used our Unity Gin)

• 150ml Indian Tonic or Lemonade

• 15ml Sugar Syrup

• Mint

• Cucumber Slices

• Ice