A West Lothian community litter picking group have been back cleaning up their community - and they’ve collected over 100 bags of litter so far this year.
The Winchburgh Wombles take take their name from the fictional furry creatures, the Wombles, as they identify with their environmentally-friendly message.
The Wombles collected a total of 103 black bags of litter from around Winchburgh in January.
On Sunday (February 6), the Winchburgh Wombles gathered in a group of 30 to do 2022’s first group litter pick in Auldcathie Park, in which they gathered a further 50 bags of litter.
The group was formed in 2020 in the middle of lockdown by Aileen Murdoch and John West from the Winchburgh Community Growing Group, with the help of the Winchburgh Development Fund.
Aileen had been litter picking in the community when the idea came to her, they used the resources and connections from the growing group to set up the Winchburgh Wombles.
Just last month Aileen Murdoch was named the ‘Clean Up Scotland Hero’ by the Keep Scotland Beautiful Award for her tireless weekly efforts in picking up litter in her community.
This year the Wombles will be celebrating their second birthday, with over 1000 bags of litter collected from Winchburgh and over 1000 collective hours worked by volunteers.
John West (40) the co-founder of the Winchburgh Community Growing Group and the Winchburgh Wombles, said: “We started the Wombles in 2020 to combat a growing problem in the community and have fun doing it.
“During lockdown the streets got really dirty in Winchburgh, with used face masks everywhere and people driving through and throwing litter out their windows.
“So we saw a need in the community, we did a big recruitment drive for volunteers - we even hired a womble suit on the hottest day of 2020!
For their second anniversary, the Wombles plan to update their tech - with a new live map showing reported hot spots for litter, as well as a new hub for the wombles to report their wombling ventures.
John added: “I feel people are less likely to litter now because of the Wombles, knowing that we’ll have to pick it up if they do.”
“I think it’s a great way for people to connect with engage with their village - strangers will approach the wombles now and thank them for their work - saying they haven’t seen Winchburgh this clean in 25 years.”
Interested locals can sign up to volunteer with the Wombles - who will then send you everything you need: a PDF starter pack with dos and donts, a litter picker, gloves, a Winchburgh Wombles hi-vis vest, a bin hook, and some bin bags.
Volunteers are then separated into their local ‘womble zones’ where they pick litter, every hour of volunteering earns the picker a ‘sun token’, and with seven sun tokens one can get a free item from Zac & Co Coffee in Winchburgh.
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