The Jolly Wombles — a spirited group drawn from Jolly Tots Preschool Nursery in Burley-in-Wharfedale — have been named winners of the Junior Litter Free SuperStars award in the local Litter Free Awards 2026.
The group were recognised for their sustained community effort to keep their community clean and green and to be the cutest charismatic litter leaders.
The award highlights the Jolly Wombles’ monthly litter picks across their adopted streets, parks and hotspot areas, and celebrates a strong culture of environmental stewardship started at nursery age.
Burley in Wharfedale Community Trust Chair, Duncan Ault commented:
“The Jolly Wombles’ monthly efforts increases awareness and is appreciated across the community — this recognition is well deserved.”
Group Leader, Tamsin Wilson added:
"It is an honour to receive this award and we are extremely proud of our preschoolers who are more than happy to go out in all weathers to keep the streets and parks of Burley litter free”
A short history: Jolly Tots Preschool Nursery was launched in 1997 and is located in the heart of the village in the historic Queen's Hall building. The nursery promotes Understanding of the World through celebrating and caring for the environment - within the nursery children spend lots of time outside in the OLA (Outdoor Learning Area) and the green playground and it was only natural that they extended their interest in the greater community and village.
Monthly community action is central to the Jolly Wombles’ work. Each session is designed to be safe and inclusive: short, supervised walks with child-friendly litter pickers and high-visibility vests, plus follow-up activities at nursery to turn the experience into lessons about recycling, wildlife and civic responsibility. Over the last year the group removed hundreds of items of litter from play areas, parks and streets and helped reduce local fly-tipping hotspots through community reporting and awareness-raising.
In addition, the Jolly Wombles have recently shared their kit with another like-minded nursery, Burley Nursery, the entire team is looking forward to seeing this team show their big influence. The kit has been sponsored and provided by the Official Wombles Community Charity thewomblescommunity.com.
In addition, many of the Jolly Wombles attend the monthly village community litter pick with their parents and siblings, bolstering numbers and always showing everyone how to do litter-picking at 'effortless expert' level. This litter pick is coordinated by the adult resident Wharfedale Wombles and is on the first Sunday, every month from 10 to 11 am from The RoundHouse. All welcome.
Nursery Director, Ginny Jowett said:
“Litter picking within our village has become one of our preschoolers favourite activities. Whilst learning to care for their local environment, the children have persevered in mastering their technique to operate the litter grabber (not easy for our 3-4 year olds). Our little outings are fun and on returning to Jolly Tots the children are always excited to recall the items of litter they found”.
Two four year old members of the Jolly Wombles commented:
“You should carry your rubbish in your hand if there is no bin”
“The world is not a bin. If we litter, we are trashing the world”
Lead Wharfedale Womble, Loraine Hughes said:
“The Jolly Wombles set a brilliant example: nothing stops them from participating in taking care of their environment. We look forward to having an update on their litter-picking activities every month. We love that they regularly raise opportunities for improvement. It’s evident they are passionate and the entire village is proud of them and their achievement.”
The awards ceremony, organised by Litter Free Ilkley and sponsored by Ilkley resident and retired Keighley businessman Thomas Black, was held at Ilkley Bandstand on Sunday 26th April 2026. Nine local litter-pick groups came together, further details of all the winners can be found here: https://www.yourilkley.com/local-news/ilkley/volunteers-recognised-in-local-litter-free-awards/
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