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Wildlife rescue charity puts festival towels to use

Oxfordshire Wildlife Rescue Three hedgehogs on a towel. The are also playing with a giraffe plush toy that is bigger than them.Oxfordshire Wildlife Rescue
Founder Luke Waclawek said hedgehogs had "this uncanny knack" to shove their noses through holes

A wildlife charity is using discarded towels from a festival to look after hedgehogs and other wild animals.

Oxfordshire Wildlife Rescue (OWR) received donations of towels following the clean-up at Reading Festival.

Founder Luke Waclawek said the towels had a variety of uses, such as calming the animals down and making for comfy beds.

He said the team was "incredibly grateful" for the donation.

Oxfordshire Wildlife Rescue A close-up of a tawny owl wrapped up in a blue towelOxfordshire Wildlife Rescue
One use of the towels is to calm the animals down

Volunteers spent a week cleaning up after the festival which was attended by more than 90,000 people.

Chair of the Warren and District Residents' Association Elisa Miles said she had seen OWR requesting the towels on social media.

She said that it was the first year they had donated to the rescue centre.

"To be able to give something to people and do something out of the mess that was left is nice," Ms Miles said.

"So it doesn't just all go to landfill and the stuff that is reusable is used."

Oxfordshire Wildlife Rescue A roe deer wrapped up in a blue towel. It appears to be in a shed and is laying on hey.Oxfordshire Wildlife Rescue
Mr Waclawek said his team was "incredibly grateful" for the donation

OWR rescues between 3,000 and 4,000 creatures every year, including voles, garden birds, hedgehogs and deer.

Mr Waclawek said the rescue was "always in need of towels".

"About four weeks ago, there was a count of 150 [hedgehogs] in the centre. That's 150 towels a day." he said.

He added that the towels had to be washed daily and sometimes could not be reused due to risk of infections or reinfections.

"Towels come in for all sorts of uses in handling the animals," Mr Waclawek said.

"Sometimes covering an animal with a towel also calms it down and they make a fantastic cheap bed for them."

Mr Waclawek said it was the first time he had received items from Reading Festival and OWR's team was "incredibly grateful".

"When Elisa brought over the towels for us, it was fantastic," adding that he had even found one with a band he listened to.

He also said that hedgehogs had "this uncanny knack" to shove their noses through holes.

"So whenever people offer us towels, as long as there are no holes in them, that's what we ask for, really."

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