Jersey Inmates Build 20 Homes to Save Hedgehogs

Prisoners at HMP La Moye in Jersey are turning reclaimed wood into hope for one of the island's most threatened creatures.

Twenty inmates have crafted feeding and nesting boxes for the Jersey Hedgehog Preservation Group using reclaimed pallet timber. All the feeding boxes sold out at £20 each within weeks, and only a few £25 nesting boxes remain.

The project started from a chance conversation between charity volunteer Dru Burdon and a prison officer at a veterinary clinic. The officer had brought in an injured hedgehog for care, and the two started talking about ways prisoners could help.

Burdon handed over design templates, and the inmates got to work. "If it helps with carpentry skills training, so much the better," she said. "These boxes are certainly saving hedgehogs' lives."

For the prisoners, the project offers something beyond skill building. Peter Gould, the prison's vocational manager, says the work gives inmates a sense of purpose and shows them how their efforts can benefit their community.

The carpentry training teaches real world skills that could lead to careers in construction. Prisoners learn health and safety practices and gain experience with professional machinery and equipment.

The Ripple Effect

The hedgehog boxes are part of a larger mission at HMP La Moye to connect prisoners with their community through meaningful work.

Inmates also refurbish donated bicycles for Age Concern Jersey, restore memorial benches, grow vegetables for the prison kitchen and local charities, and help create wildlife habitats around the island.

Gould believes this kind of vocational work can help reduce reoffending because it builds both job skills and self worth. When prisoners see their work making a tangible difference, they start to see themselves as valuable community members.

The public response has proven him right. "The response from the public and our members has been terrific," Burdon said.

These small wooden boxes represent something bigger: second chances working in harmony with conservation to create real change.