Eye on Hailsham – Good News Story – Wealden Wombles

The idea for the Wealden Wombles started during lockdown when founder of the group Jacqui Brown was going out for her daily exercise and noticed the amount of litter that was along the roadside and in the verges. Jacqui got very annoyed and decided to start going out to pick up the rubbish she could. Jacqui bought herself a litter picker and went out with a bin bag one day and to her horror ended up running out of space in the bag before she’d even got halfway along the A22!

She then bumped into someone else that was picking up litter and it suddenly occurred to her that more people had the same feeling about the litter. Jacqui did a post on social media saying she was starting a new group called the Wealden Wombles and the first litter pick had over 20 people turned up, which was just amazing.  

‘The Wealden Wombles now have around 60 members.  It is a free group to join, and we now can supply all the equipment which have been supplied by the local council and a local businesses’, said Jacqui.

Sam from Town & Country Tree Services who has donated hi vis vests for the volunteers said ‘Reducing human impact on the natural environment is vital. What the Wealden Wombles are doing is educating the public of the importance of a litter free world. Creating an environment that all generations can enjoy. They all make litter picking a social occasion and one that involves all ages. The satisfaction of tidying areas of the town and filling a bag with litter is amazing’

The volunteers don’t just pick litter; the group also have Womble costumes which they go and do school visits and public events to try and educate people about littering. Prevention is just as important as picking up the litter if not more.

The Facebook group is called Wealden Wombles and Twitter @wealdenwombles if you would like to join or find out more information.

The Hailsham Eye team would like to thank everyone involved for their efforts in making our town look beautiful.