Environmentalism and The Wombles are synonymous, with the focus of The Wombles directed towards conservation and looking after your local area since its founding over 50 years ago. Now The Wombles are cementing this role for the brand, and has registered as a charity, championing community action and environmental education.
The Wombles says the role of the charity is to harness the unique appeal and powerful message of the The Wombles to encourage everyone in the UK to take a more active role in conservation of their local environment.
The charity will achieve this by supporting and building a network of community groups and providing educational resources to families and schools. Over 60 community groups have already registered as Official Wombles Groups, meaning they can use the Womble branding and characters in their projects to promote their activities. The ambition for this community group network is to spread it across the country, creating the largest environmental organisation in the country, with a location in every community.
With 88% of the British public found to be aware of The Wombles, according to a YouGov poll from 2021, spreading the Wombles’ story and purpose across community groups nationwide, will enable further engagements in local initiatives and awareness of environmental impact. In the same poll, 64% agreed that The Wombles are more relevant than ever because of the global environmental crisis, and 75% agreed that The Wombles provided a positive environmentally-friendly message to children, highlighting the power the Womble brand can have for local community conservation efforts.
Inspired by The Wombles themselves, many of the community groups in the network focus on litter picking, however the community encompasses all manner of local environmental projects and initiatives, such as tree and wildflower planting and upcycling.
Originally created by Elizabeth Beresford, the objective of The Wombles has always been to inform, inspire and entertain children with positive and accessible environmental messaging and purpose. Marcus Beresford, the son of Elizabeth Beresford and the inspiration for Orinoco, commented, “When my mother, Elizabeth Beresford, created The Wombles, she wanted them to inspire young children to enjoy the stories but also to be a positive force for the whole family and communities.
“While the Wimbledon burrow is best known, in the novels many other Womble burrows featured from not just the UK but all around the world and the Wombles Charity Community will reflect and build on those original Wombles stories and values. Mum would have been delighted that 50 years on The Wombles were as loved as ever.”
The Wombles charity is honouring Elizabeth’s legacy by working with teachers, parents and guardians to support the next generation to continue the mission. It provides free educational content for teachers on environmental topics in line with the current curriculum. This material can be downloaded for free from thewomblescommunity.com.
Any community can now create their own Official Wombles Group by visiting thewomblescommunity.com and completing a simple online registration process. Once registered, the groups can access a portal containing Official Wombles Group logos, advice and promotional materials and have their work showcased on the Wombles Community website and newsletter.
