AN ARTS school will be raising money for hedgehogs after its founder saved one from a dog in a garden.

Jill Errington is determined to raise funds for Help for Hedgehogs Woodside after saving one from a dog's mouth while dog-sitting at a customer's house in August.

Jill, from Ponteland, who runs Jill Errington Theatre School, Taylor-Made Parties, and Ruby Slippers Garden & Pet Care, claimed it took about 30 minutes before she could rescue it from the dog's mouth and felt it was her responsibility to care for it.

After dropping the hedgehog off at Hope for Hedgehogs Woodside, it was found that it was a female and she had given birth to four hoglets.

This gave Jill an idea to raise money for the charity by getting her students to name them.

"I asked my students to pay £1 to name all four hoglets. I thought this was the best idea as everyone likes naming teddies, so why not hedgehogs?

"The naming of the hedgehogs was really successful and we raised £77. The names chosen were Hamish, Horace, Pedro and Percy.

"Since then we have been raising lots of awareness for the charity and about the animals.

"The dance school has also sponsored a cage [at the charity] for a year for £50 with donations from our Christmas discos, and we have lots more events coming up and will be raising more money for this and other charities.

"I have wanted to do something for the charity since saving the hedgehog from the dog's mouth. It was then when I became quite attached to them when I saw the work that they with the hoglets, so I wanted to do more.

"It is an amazing charity and is all run by volunteers. Since I rescued the hedgehog, I have been involved in two other rescues, one got stuck in some football netting and one was found poorly in my mother-in-law's garden.

"The charity is amazing for giving advice when you ring up for help."