Wombling free! The kind-hearted gang keeping our streets tidy during lockdown

Meet the Aylesbury Wombles, the kind-hearted gang of volunteer litter pickers who are keeping our streets tidy during lockdown and beyond.

The group, which has already collected 784 bags of litter from the streets of Aylesbury was the brainchild of 15 year-old Abigail Walker.

Abigail hit upon the idea after studying the environment at school, and set about filling up bin bags near her home.

Her dad Richard, (affectionately known as the Head Womble) contacted Aylesbury Town Council and asked for help by getting the message out to people so they could join, providing bin bags and some equipment.

The idea snowballed with more and more people wanting to take part, and the Aylesbury Wombles is now a litter-picking force to be reckoned with.

Wombles meet every weekend in various locations across Aylesbury and clean up litter in the area.

Aylesbury Town Council have provided the group with their own permanent litter pick equipment, such as litter pickers, high viz jackets and bin bag hoops plus more bin bags.

Aylesbury town mayor, Cllr Mike Smith met up with the Wombles in Bedgrove this week to officially hand over the new equipment and to lend a helping hand at the litter pick along Ambleside.

He said: “Having been out 'wombling' a number of times now, it's fantastic to see how grateful our local communities have been for the improvement in their environment that comes out of a visit from this fantastic group of volunteers.

"There is a real team spirit when we are out working together (even with the necessary social distancing at the moment!), as well as the satisfaction of seeing a job well done and a productive way of getting some exercise.

"The Town Council are delighted to provide this extra equipment and continue supporting their work".

Head Womble, Richard said: “It’s not our rubbish but it is our town.

"We are very grateful to Aylesbury Town Council for all their support and advice since we started.

"This equipment will make logistics of holding Wombles in various locations at the same time a lot easier and ensures that all of the volunteers have the right and safe equipment to work with.

"We are very much looking forward to continuing to work in co-operation with Aylesbury Town Council in the years to come.”