Mayor’s Charities

New Mayor of Westhoughton, Cllr Gillian Wroe, has chosen 2 charities for her Mayor year to raise money for. These are Westhoughton Assist Service and The Hoggery.

Cllr Wroe writes “It is a pleasure to announce that Westhoughton Assist Service is one of my Mayor’s Charity choices for this my Mayoral year.

Set up by Janet Colley at the start of the pandemic the service is run by a group of dedicated volunteers including Lesley Monks (pictured). They provide emergency food packs to local households in crisis or facing hardship and also access to subsidised food shopping. They also give advice on how to access help with utilities and financial support services.

We are fortunate to have such amazing volunteers in our community who not only give up their time to help others but do it with a smile.

Westhoughton Assist Service is based in The John Holt Centre on Birch Ave which has recently undergone a transformation with new windows and cladding. It looks great!”

Cllr Wroe writes “It is a pleasure to introduce Westhoughton based ‘The Hoggery’ as one of my Mayor’s Charity choices for this year.

Run by Jayne Schofield this wonderful little rescue and rehabilitation centre takes in injured and ill hedgehogs returning as many as possible to their natural habitat.

Jayne first volunteered with ‘Hog Haven’, run by Maz, in 2019 and then took over the care of these gorgeous creatures in 2024. Her dedication is an inspiration.

Currently there are just 5 hedgehogs in ‘The Hoggery’ undergoing treatment, 2 in Maz’s safe garden (they’re blind so can’t be released) and 8 have been released in the last 3-4 weeks. Pictured are Cooper and Herbert.

Follow ‘The Hoggery’ Facebook Page to see more of Jayne’s work.”