Monday 19th May from 7.30pm in ‘The Snug’ at The Boot.
A space to share ideas and experiences to help us all live more sustainable lives. There will be a chance to hear about the plans for upcoming events and to get involved if you wish.
This will also be a forum to discuss new ideas for village events and to share news about events further afield.
HI Sustainability has a meeting on Monday 2nd June from 7.30pm at the Salvation Army hall.
We’ll be sharing experiences about EV cars. This event is for anyone who has an electric car, is thinking about getting one, or is just curious.
‘Conversations about….’ evenings are friendly gatherings at which to meet new people and share ideas. All welcome. Refreshments provided. No booking required.
Despite dwindling numbers, hedgehogs here in Histon & Impington are still in with a fighting chance. Alison Turnbull shares an update on how the community is helping to turn around the plight of these plucky nocturnal visitors.
In rural areas, nationally, hedgehog populations have reduced by up to 75% – with the largest decline being seen in the eastern half of England. However, in urban areas there are stable populations which show signs of increasingaand Histon and Impington may just be one of them. This is where we can all help by protecting gardens and green spaces and taking action at a local level to support our village hedgehogs.
In 2020, hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) were included in the IUCN Red List of species noted as ‘vulnerable to extinction in the United Kingdom’, due to their overall declining populations. Sadly, of course hedgehog road fatalities are highest in and around towns. But while the future seems bleak, the situation is not impossible to rectify.
How can you help?
There are things that we all can do to help support our local hedgehog populations. We talked to Sue Free, one of our community’s local ‘Hedgehog Champions’ – leading on an offshoot of the work of H&I Sustainability. For several years now, the group has encouraged people to report hedgehog sightings which, in turn, contribute to a map showing where they have been seen, and where the gateways are which allow the hogs to roam. This then helps the group to work out which areas need to be added to the ‘hedgehog highway’.
Sue explains: “The hedgehog mapping project has been very successful so far but we still need more people to participate. We’d like to produce a new map each year to give some guidance on changing numbers. It’s really important that we make sure our gardens are connected with gaps in hedges or fences so that hedgehogs can forage widely and be connected to habitats and other populations. Ideally, ultimately, we hope to have all the streets linked in one big hedgehog highway”.
She continues, “Lots of people have already provided a hedgehog gateway into (and out of) their garden by having a small circular hole cut in their fence. We have a special hole saw available and there are volunteers who will help cut the holes.”
Sue explains that the list of sightings, “shows the range of the hedgehogs and helps us to spot features in the environment which might prevent them roaming more widely”.
How many hedgehogs are there in H&I?
Estimating numbers of hedgehogs locally has not been easy; they are widespread but scarce, and may forage some distance during the course of a night. Consequently, a number of hedgehog sightings within a mile on a particular night, could be the same hedgehog! They are opportunistic eaters and will feast on carrion and fallen fruit, as well as earthworms and invertebrates. They will also eat meat-based cat and dog food, purchased hedgehog food and cat biscuits.
In 2024, the HI Hedgehog Heroes collected sightings across 46 streets from 81 separate households. The Hedgehog Highway website has recordings of 92 holes found in this area.
Generally they prefer gardens and hedgerows and tend to follow linear features in the landscape which give shelter. The biggest pressure on hedgehog numbers is the impoverished environment, such as the intensification of agriculture and use of pesticides which has unfortunately reduced numbers of invertebrates in our green spaces.
As hedgehogs are emerging from hibernation, it’s the perfect time to check gardens and outdoor spaces, leaf piles and shrubs. Don’t clear up too much in case they are disturbed, and if you have a pond, ensure there is a gentle slope or a log or other feature to allow a stranded hedgehog to climb out.
Hedgehog Champions will be at the HIGS members’ afternoon and AGM at 2pm on Saturday 22 March at the Saint Andrew’s Centre. Why not come along to log your latest sighting and add your garden to the Hedgehog Superhighway!
If you want to help make Histon and Impington one of the most hedgehog friendly villages and have a fully connected hedgehog highway ready for them to emerge from their winter hibernation, get involved today. Email hihedgehogs@gmail.com for more information and how you can help.
From economics and eco-homes to soil and ‘Swishing’. Alison Turnbull dropped into a HI Sustainability meeting to find out more about the ethos and activities of this green-focused local group.
Set up seven years ago in 2018 to respond to climate challenges locally, if its recent meeting is anything to go by, the HI Sustainability Group appears to be going from strength to strength. 16 people, all interested in joining the cause, met up in the snug of The Boot pub; eager to find out what the group had planned, offer suggestions, and find out if there were events or projects that they could join in with.
There is currently an active, if small, committee of local residents including, Nicole Barton (chair), Louise Baker, Sue Free and Fran Sutton. Sue explains to me that HI Sustainability’s stated aim is to: “raise local awareness of sustainability and environmental issues including climate change, and to help local individuals, voluntary sector groups and businesses take action on sustainability and environment issues to mitigate their impact on climate change by reducing carbon emissions”.
In simple terms this boils down to running projects to increase the community’s “personal and planetary happiness” in the areas of: recycling, transport, food, nature conservation, political influence, energy, education and the local economy.
Quite the mission in a village the size of Histon and Impington but, in the years it has been active, the group has had a visible presence at every village gathering including, Feast week, the Community Orchard breakfasts, Open Gardens, HI Friends’ Wellbeing Week and many more.
From humble beginnings
HI Sustainability became active in 2018 after some green-minded local folk screened a film Demain, exploring creative solutions around travel, food, education and economics. Around 185 people came along and then another 30 joined a subsequent planning meeting to match up their skills and interests with new initiatives that might help the H&I community live more sustainably.
A sold-out banquet-style vegan feast followed, then the Village’s first Swish (swapping and sharing used clothing) and a green spaces trail for Wellbeing Week. COVID saw the group take a forced hiatus, only to come back stronger in 2023 with the Eco Fest at the Baptist Church and a popular screening of the film Six Inches of Soil among many other volunteer-led events. The group also occasionally co-hosts events with Cambridge Carbon Footprint which supports some of their activities.
Sustainable conversations
In addition to the group’s regular members’ meetings, their current programme includes a series, called ‘Conversations About’. Most recently, Dan Mace chair of Histon & Impington Community Orchard (HICOP) gave a talk about planting for increased biodiversity. The conversation was an opportunity for Dan to share experience gained through his involvement in the development of the orchard, and for residents to consider ways of growing their own patch of meadow, or just making their lawn more interesting.
The next ‘Conversation About’ will cover electric vehicles (EVs), and how to charge them amongst other issues. This will be followed in September by a conversation about retrofitting homes. Keep an eye on the HI HUB What’s On pages for details of these and more in due course.
Go say ‘hi’ at the Farmers Market
The group is also running a regular stall at the farmers market, at Histon’s Methodist Church. The stall is currently being funded by Histon and Impington Parish Council until July. It’s proving to be a good way of having conversations in a low-key way and sharing ideas of things people are already doing to reduce their carbon footprint. The next farmers market is from 9 am until 12 noon on Saturday 15 February when the Hedgehog Heroes – the group championing the humble hedgehog’s right to roam through our gardens – will be hosting the stall.
Sue Free explains that they are looking for ways to grow the group, to find ways for people to be more involved without it becoming too onerous. So if that’s something that you think you would like to be a part of, the team would love to hear from you.
To find out more, visit HISustainability or email Histonsustainablity@gmail.com
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