Eggheads are wanted for a massive charity quiz.
And they will be helping some of Kirklees’ most engaging creatures.
People can now enter a big prize 50 question general knowledge quiz to help Oggles Hedgehog Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, which desperately needs funds to continue its vital hedgehog protection work.
Centre supporter Philippa Carr hopes to raise at least £1,000 by asking people to pay £3 per entry to cover spiralling food costs for the Dewsbury centre, which has been run by Vicky and Steve Greenwood in their home on Dewsbury Moor since 2010.
They are currently looking after over 140 spiky critters, which they aim to rehabilitate and eventually release back into the wild, and are taking in more and more due to the recent flooding.
People can enter by emailing ogglesquiz@yahoo.co.uk, and will receive the quiz once they have donated the money via the charity’s fundraising page at Golden Giving.
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Philippa explained why she set up the competition.
“I was struck by the wonderful work Vicky and Steve are doing”, she said.
“They have given over their home to hedgehogs and are operating on a shoestring budget to help save hedgehogs.
“The hedgehog population is down 95% on what it was in the 1950s, which is very sad.
“At this rate they could disappear within 10 years.
“Their decline is due to lots of factors, including people concreting over their gardens, building fences and not leaving gaps for hedgehogs to get through, the weather and destruction of their habitats.
“Another problem is people putting out bread and milk.
“Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant so giving them milk can make adults very ill and can kill babies, so cat and dog food or hedgehog biscuits should given.”
Big prizes, including cookery workshops, meals out and books autographed by Alan Titchmarsh are some of the 50 up for grabs through the quiz, which closes to entries on April 17.
Vicky, 44, said: “They’re just amazing creatures that have survived for thousands of years.
“We still don’t know a lot about them.
“I want to say a massive thanks to Philippa for what she’s doing for us.
“£1,000 will last us around 10 weeks; hedgehogs are ferocious eaters.
“We also have to pay for their medication and electricity to keep them, while we get them to the right weight and strength to be taken to an appropriate place in the wild.”