About us

Our co-founder Katy has completed a degree in Applied Zoology which resulted in the publication of a scientific paper on hedgehogs and parasites; more recently completing a research masters based around hedgehogs which resulted in two further scientific peer-reviewed papers. Katy has set up and oversees the charity’s research program which is run with several local universities. She has also set up and currently runs our social media accounts, all of this whilst working with our volunteer team and the hedgehogs on a daily basis.

Co-founder Diane voluntarily works full time for the charity as a manager overseeing hedgehog care and hand raising hoglets instead of having a quiet retirement. Having started the charity with daughter Katy, she has used her background in education (BEd Hons) and over 15 years experience as a school governor to help develop the charity into what it is today. With over 10+ years of hedgehog care behind her she is going to be key to helping us move the charity forward and expand.

Emma has been a volunteer with us since July 2019 and came on board with us in 2021 to help with volunteer training and to further develop our educational offer. Emma has been an education volunteer well over a year helping throughout the pandemic to host educational Zoom talks from the rescue. This is something she finds particularly rewarding, especially when the participants have a range of questions! She is very excited to expand our educational offer and hopes to create more of a link with our local schools. Emma has a keen interest in all wildlife and conservation and has a diploma in Zoology.

John joined Prickles & Paws as our CEO in December 2024 having been a volunteer with us since 2021. With a background in corporate finance, grant funding and project management, John has worked in senior positions for a number of organisations ranging from an international accountancy practice to a regional development agency and a university.

Having taken early retirement in 2019, John immersed himself in his passion for wildlife, environmental conservation and animal welfare, taking on voluntary roles with the Tamar Community Trust, the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme, Calstock Arts’ environmental programme and, of course, Prickles & Paws. The opportunity to apply his commercial skills and experience to Prickles & Paws proved irresistible, hence his decision to return to full-time work as our CEO. “With our native European hedgehog now listed as ‘near threatened’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, it is more important than ever that we do everything we can to help this iconic species survive and thrive, through rescue and rehabilitation, education and research. Prickles & Paws is very well-positioned to take a leading role in this vital mission and I look forward to helping the team to expand their excellent work in Cornwall and beyond.”

John holds a masters degree in Geography from the University of Cambridge, an MBA, and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Claire works part time during our busy periods helping volunteers, giving hedgehogs medication and ensuring our hedgehog care shifts run smoothly.

It’s a family affair! Martin couldn’t say no to supporting the charity created by his wife and daughter, he has put his people skills to a new use and now volunteers supporting the charity by helping to advise the public and co-ordinate rescues across the county. He is also most proudly the chief brew maker and knows all our volunteers by their preferred cuppa!

He is an integral part of the rescue pitching in wherever needed and doing many of the late night hoglet feeds, vet trips and hedgehog collections.

Jenny joined us in December 2023 part time to help develop our fundraising strategy and ensure the sustainability of the charity moving forwards as we continue to grow.

Sammy has spent the last seven years in veterinary and animal care and has a huge passion for our native wildlife. She currently manages the income and promotion of RSPCA Cornwall Branch. “I hope I can bring my passion for animal care and knowledge on fundraising to help Prickles and Paws continue to rescue, rehabilitate and release hedgehogs. I am so proud to be part of this incredibly dedicate team.”

Zoe is CEO of growing national charity, StreetVet. She also volunteers monthly at several StreetVet Cornwall's outreaches.

Prior to this, Zoe qualified as a RVN back in 1999 and worked in general practice for a few years before deciding to experience other industries. She worked her way up to senior international operational positions at several leading cybersecurity companies before joining the third sector.

Zoe is a keen environmentalist, with a passion for wildlife conservation and has been a supporter of Prickles and Paws for several years. She is also a parish councillor and supporter of her local climate action group. She is keen to bring her knowledge and experience of growing organisations and working within the charity sector to help Prickles and Paws navigate to the next stage of their life cycle. "The work Prickles and Paws do is so important. The brand new site will revolutionise the way the team work allowing them to work even more efficiently than they already are, whilst also having an area available for education and research. This is such an exciting time for the charity and I am so happy to be able to help support the team where I can as they evolve."

Sarah's background is in business & finance in both the NHS and Independent Schools, she moved from Northamptonshire to Cornwall in 2018 to work at Truro High School for Girls. She is looking forward to supporting our Charity and helping it develop and grow to cope with the ever increasing demand for our services.

"The work Prickles and Paws does is phenomenal. I hope I can bring knowledge and experience to the business management side of the Charity"

Colette is an independent environmental consultant with 25 years of experience in the sector, mainly working on larger scale strategic projects, master planning, management plans and environmental policy studies. Before this, Colette managed the Cornwall AONB Partnership for over fifteen years, following an earlier life working on urban and rural nature conservation projects for organisations such as the Wildlife Trusts and English Nature. Colette is massively passionate about wildlife and is always striving to deliver as much benefit as possible for biodiversity. ‘I’m hugely looking forward to getting stuck in a helping Prickles and Paws navigate through an exciting time of growth for the charity and big plans for the future!’

A solicitor advocate who holds a Higher Rights of Audience (Civil) certificate. She was a criminal prosecutor for nine years, a law lecturer for five years and has been practicing in commercial and data protection law for the past four years. Kristy helps us to navigate legal matters and ensures that we are compliant with relevant legislation and GDPR.

Daren has been involved with the construction industry for over 40 years, working on a wide range of projects as setting out engineer, structural technician and as an Architectural Technologist. Because of his interest in Architectural Technology, in 1996 Daren achieved membership of the ‘Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists’. In addition to this, he has been a Regional Monitoring Surveyor for a Structural Warranty provider for over 10 years and recently achieved the recognition of a Certified Passive House Designer, one of only 4 within the county of Cornwall!

With a keen interest in sustainability and energy efficient construction, Daren is fully trained in the use of the Passivhaus design software and prides himself in using environmentally friendly and sustainable materials and construction methods where possible.

His other love is nature and wildlife and with a love of birds and mammals is enormously proud of A-Tec Design's working relationship with various charities over the years, including St Francis Home for Animals in Newquay, The Barn Owl Trust at Ashburton and of course Prickles & Paws Hedgehog Rescue.

A-Tec Design were happy to aid with the planning application and building regulations drawings for the design of the site and the related works for the new Hogspital and Daren is hugely honoured to have recently been asked to become a member of the team as a Trustee in relation to the construction works.

Hannah wildlife presenter/producer for BBC Earth, digital presenter on BBC Springwatch and a wildlife filmmaker with a 1st Class Zoology degree and Masters in Wildlife Filmmaking. Living just a few miles from us in Newquay Hannah has championed our work, most recently with us featuring on Autumn Watch 2020!

Lucie is a local surfer, model and tv celebrity after featuring on the show Love Island. As a social influencer we are hugely excited to welcome her onboard to help us raise awareness around the decline of hedgehogs and what people can do to help them.

Better known as the Hairy Horticulturist Sam has helped us release many hedgehogs into the beautiful Lost Gardens of Heligan. Sam is renowned for his humorous take on fruit and vegetable growing, producing some weird and wonderful varieties and helping others with growing in their own gardens, businesses and allotments. We look forward to working with Sam and helping educate gardeners of what they can do to encourage hedgehogs, as well as remove potential hazards.

Phil is a specialist orthopaedic veterinary surgeon with Cornwall Veterinary Referrals at Penmellyn Vets St Columb. He has treated many of our hedgehogs, carrying out very complex surgeries to repair leg fractures, giving our hedgehogs the chance to go back to the wild.

"Everybody at Penmellyn vets finds it enormously rewarding to get involved in the excellent work that Prickles and Paws do to get injured and sick hedgehogs back into nature. I am massively excited to play my part in this in the veterinary setting and, as a patron for the charity I look forward to helping many more unfortunate hedgehogs in the years to come."

Kelly’s research and professional career has focused on British ecology, conservation and natural history. She is an active member of Cornwall Mammal Group and has runs the Prickles Project - an ongoing scheme run by students at University of Exeter's Penryn Campus in collaboration with local schools to monitor hedgehog populations and spread awareness on the importance of conserving wild hedgehogs in Cornwall.