A woman who nurses injured hedgehogs back to health in her spare time is hosting a fundraiser for the endangered spiny mammals.

Veterinary nurse Sarah Reilly who is part of a practice in Harrow Weald is urging people to come along to the tea party to learn more about helping hedgehogs, as part of Hedgehog Awareness Week in the first week of May.

The team at Goddard Veterinary Group on the High Road will put on a Hedgehog Party with activities for children, advice for adults, a raffle with prizes such as pet food and a bicycle carrier for dogs, and tea and cakes on Thursday (May 5).

Ms Reilly who began her rescue mission in 2013 after caring for her first baby hedgehog, said: “The decline in numbers of hedgehogs is very worrying.

“Hedgehogs are really struggling as their natural habitat disappears, particularly in town and cities, but there are lots of simple things we can all do to help them and that’s what we’ll be focusing on during our talk at the Hedgehog Party.

“It will be great fun and we’re looking forward to welcoming lots of fellow hog lovers!”

Recently we reported a west London woodland was given a new lease of life thanks to a £25,000 grant and two years of hard work from volunteers.

At the moment Ms Reilly's patients include Delilah, an adult hedgehog, with an upper respiratory tract infection, who will be released once fully recovered.

All funds raised will be donated to the British Hedgehog Preservation Society which aims to highlight the problems hedgehogs face and educate people on how they can help them.

The Goddard Veterinary Group in Harrow Weald is at 334 High Road. To contact the team call 0208 427 1611.

Sign a petition created to give the hedgehog better legal protection to reverse its decline which needs 100,000 signatures to be considered for debate in Parliament.

Read about some of our other heartwarming animal stories including how a heroic dog saved the life of an abandoned cat and how a giant terrified rabbit turned up in west London garden and was rescued by Blue Cross pet charity.