A hedgehog rescue charity has raised more than £30,000 in an effort to avoid closure following the loss of its shop.
Somerset-based Prickles Hedgehog Rescue has generated about half of its annual income from its charity shop, which it has rented for free since 2017.
However, the charity’s founder Jules Bishop said the shop in Cheddar is now being sold by relatives of the lady who owns the site and is now in residential care.
Bishop told Civil Society contracts exchange on the property on 28 August and the charity has to vacate it by 15 September.
The shop generated between £45,000 to £50,000 per year for the charity, Bishop said, which had an expenditure of £107,000 last year including utilities, vet bills and food for the hedgehogs in its care.
Bishop announced the charity, which she began 18 years ago, is facing closure in a GoFundMe campaign launched on 10 August.
It has so far raised more than £30,000, exceeding its initial £25,000 target, but the charity would like to raise even more before the shop closes.
Bishop told Civil Society: “We ideally would like a cushion of £100,000 and then we can look at new initiatives of raising money.
“This will then secure the future of the charity.”
The charity’s financial documents for the two most recent financial years are overdue with the Charity Commission.
According to its most recently filed accounts for the year to March 2022, the charity raised £102,000 with £31,700 coming from the shop.
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