‘We’re the purple army’: Northants Litter Wombles named ‘Best Newcomer’ at Community Foundation Awards 2022

Hosted on Thursday (December 8), the Northamptonshire Community Foundation Awards championed those making the biggest difference across the county.

Among the individuals and groups who took home the top spots were the Northants Litter Wombles, who were named ‘Best Newcomer’.

The community action group has a vision to create a litter-free county by 2030 through group picks, and has amassed more than 3,200 members since it was formed in January 2021.

In the nearly two years they have been making a difference to Northamptonshire, the group has collected 49,499 bags of litter and saved the taxpayer £2,474,950.

Chair of the group, Sally Romain said: “We are absolutely thrilled to get recognition as we are very close to our target of collecting 50,000 bags of litter since we began.

“We were thrilled to just be nominated, let alone to win, as it recognises the many people who try to improve the environment we live, work and play in.”

The group, known as the ‘purple army’ for the colour they wear when out on picks, began at the peak of the pandemic when the only exercise most individuals could do was walk.

Those who went out on their daily exercise noticed the vast amount of litter, says Sally, and it was not just on the streets but in parks, rivers, hedgerows and affecting wildlife too.

“A group of like-minded people decided to do something about the issue, which was only getting worse,” said Sally.

Northants Litter Wombles was founded by Nicola Elliott, who set up a Facebook group that soon jumped from 50 members to more than 300 within the first few weeks. This figure now sits at 3,204.

Though the group’s main focus is going out on picks, they also conduct research into why people litter and are working to address the reasons one at a time.

When asked about the vision for the group, Sally told Chronicle & Echo that “sadly they will always be around as there will always be litter to be picked”.

Now there are picks happening all over the county – across Northampton, Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and Daventry – the aim moving forward is to continue rolling out their education programme.

The group has plans to go into every primary school in the county, and then move onto secondary schools, to educate pupils on the harm littering causes.

Northants Litter Wombles was recently granted £15,000 by Northamptonshire Community Foundation, and some of this money will be put towards making the education programme a reality.

They want to ensure every school they visit for a 30-minute assembly has their own equipment and makes a promise to keep their area clean.

As well as this, the funding will go towards safely kitting out each individual womble of their own with a hi-vis jacket, hoop, litter picker and gloves, which costs around £35 per person.

Sally said: “The £15,000 has already made a huge difference and it is recognition of every womble who spends hours on end working hard to improve the environment.”

Looking to the future, Sally says the group would like to host a ‘litter conference’ where all agencies involved in waste will “work together to make promises”.