Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

A. Actually, we’re not furry creatures that live in a burrow - we are a group of local residents who live in and around Romford Town Centre. 

A. Well, quite a bit.. Primarily as a group we meet a couple of times a month. We meet as a group one Saturday monthly to litter pick, and on another Saturday monthly to do gardening and maintenance at flower beds in Romford Town Centre that we help to take care of. See our dates page.

… but we do lots of other stuff too, such as...

  • We also assist with lots of other little things to make the town a better place - we report fly tipping, graffiti, issues with trees, highways issues, blocked drains etc to Havering Council.
  • We are participants in the Havering Council Volunteer Working Group
  • We regularly return or report abandoned shopping trolleys using Collex, Trolleywise and other reporting channels
  • We report issues with telephone equipment boxes to owners such as BT, Openzone and Virgin Media
  • We report issues with phone boxes to BT and media boards to their owners
  • We connect to local businesses, landlords and property managers to report and follow up on issues
  • We connect with TFL regarding issues with bus stops and also with TFL and National Rail regarding issues in the immediate area of the station within their jurisdictions
  • We work with Romford Business Improvement District on issues that emerge in the town that will affect the local business community and to assist with their goals.
  • We link in to other groups and community initiatives in the area, such as Romford Civic Society, the Metropolitan Police Safer Neighbourhood Team Ward Panel, the Havering Green Forum
  • We also support and aim to publicise other local Wombles groups and friends of groups in their efforts.
  • We have supported local organisations and charities in clear ups of local heritage assets
  • We support an active travel strategy for the borough and keep keen eyes on the condition of cycle parking in the area, eslcating cleaning and reporting issues. We follow and support the cause of Havering Cyclists group.
  • We clean graffiti (where possible – we strictly use non-toxic products and thus as far as those will allow us to do)
  • We help litter pick at places such as Queens Hospital ground, London Ambulance Service Depot, St John’s Ambulance and Samaritans premises
  • We’re ‘Binfluencers’! J We want to help publicise the good things that are happening in the local area so regularly share details on improvements, where things are well maintained, or planters and planting is done.
  • We’ve assisted planting in the Rotary Club’s ‘End Polio’ Campaign, planting over 1,000 crocus bulbs in Romford Town Centre
  • We host larger events in the Town Centre such as the Keep Britain Tidy ‘Great Big Spring Clean’ and ‘The Great Big Green Week’
  • Our individual wombles also undertake their own solo litter picks, reporting and trolley foraging on a regular basis.

A. Yes; we have a constitution, a committee and are an official group of the Wombles Community Charity. We have public liability insurance. We have a yearly AGM and discuss issues affecting the group at our monthly group pick sessions.  We are all Volunteers!  The group is non-political and not for profit.  For our funding have relied on donations from local businesses and members of the group. 

A. A few different ways:

We don't recommend Facebook Messenger as mesages frequently need to be approved and that isn't immediately visible to us.  

A. Well, anyone can be a Womble and we’re happy to help out those who may wish to solo litter pick. If you would like to join us at a group event please do come along – everyone is welcome and we are a friendly bunch.

A. Chiefly, yourselves- to litter pick some simple equipment is needed, a litter picker, and if preferred, a litter picking ring to hold a bag. We bring equipment to lend at our group sessions. We’d also recommend some gloves. It is also wise to wear long trousers, something with long sleeves and some sturdy footwear.

A: There is a link to our next event on the main page - and we also update this on our Facebook page

A. Yes. If attending a group pick we ask that Children are supervised by Parents/Guardians.

A. Of course, that is very important – we bring guidance notes for reference to all of our sessions.

A. Yes!  Equipment can be borrowed from certain Havering Libraries or Everyone Active Leisure Centres. We can also potentially help- drop us a line!