Tag Archive for: The Wombles

Offering More Sustainable Deliveries

As part of the Clean Air Villages 4 (CAV4) programme, Love Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, Cross River Partnership and cargo bike provider XeroE have launched a free cargo bike and delivery service for local businesses near Wimbledon Town Centre. This means that when you next order an item for delivery from businesses in town, local air pollution and carbon footprint is considered in the transportation of your delivery.

The official launch took place on Monday 9th May on The Piazza, with the partner organisations coming together to showcase the bike to local businesses, plus a visit from a very special guest – The Wombles! Orinoco came out of his burrow to support the scheme which aims to show businesses the ease of switching to cargo bikes for their deliveries and adopting a more sustainable future, whilst also saving costs.

Craig Hurring, CEO of Love Wimbledon, said:

“One of Love Wimbledon’s strategic priorities for the next five years is to work with business towards creating a greener, more sustainable town centre, with improved air quality. That’s why we’re delighted to be partnering with Cross River Partnership, Merton Council and XeroE to offer Wimbledon businesses this free cargo bike delivery service pilot. We will be closely monitoring the impact the cargo bike has on reducing emissions for business journeys, and hope to see it becoming a familiar local sight over the coming weeks.”

Watch the launch video here.

 

Green Shoots in Wimbledon

2020 was a year like no other. The challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic impacted several aspects of our own lives, from the way we work, socialise, shop and more, as well as the lives of our businesses and our town centre. Despite this, there were several positive things which happened in 2020, which showed that community spirit, innovation and resilience, are just some of the reasons which make Wimbledon a great town!

New Businesses and Exciting Pop-Up Experiences Landed in Wimbledon

Over the last few months, Wimbledon has seen several small and independent businesses join the town centre, bringing unique product offerings, modern concepts and pop-up experiences, with them.

Centre Court Shopping Centre was brimming with activity, from a new pop-up market exclusively for the festive season, new businesses Heyland & Whittle, Sense Aroma and Wimbledon’s first zero-waste store Zero, as well as a free art exhibition from The Wimbledon Group, showcasing the brilliant work of local artists.

Plus a trendy cocktail bar, a home decor store and a new toy shop have arrived in Wimbledon, providing even more options to shop, eat, experience and love local!

   

For the full story on new businesses in Wimbledon, click here.

Local Events Continued in a Covid-Safe Way

With our thinking caps placed on firmly, our team here at Love Wimbledon, came up with some brilliant ideas to deliver fun FREE events and activities for locals to enjoy, throughout various levels of restrictions. The cancellation of our Big Screen Tennis and Winter Wonderland events, drove us even further to provide the community with some joyous and safe fun for all!

  • Family Events:
    Our ultimate Halloween Pumpkin Hunt saw families/friends hunting down our hidden pumpkins across town and answering questions along the way for a chance to win some brilliant prizes offered by our businesses! Our much-loved outdoor Monthly Markets also returned in a smaller format (to allow for social distancing), having been adapted for Covid-19 and customers being reminded to use contactless payment were possible.
  • Christmas in Wimbledon: 
    The festive spirit could be felt in Wimbledon, as early as mid-November, with our sparkling 25ft Christmas Tree lighting up the entrance to Wimbledon Station. Adapted to serve food only during periods of tighter restrictions, our Christmas Markets on The Piazza continued to be an outdoor shopping destination and an opportunity to feel the magic of Christmas, whilst Wimbledon got it’s first Reindeer Trail experience with integrated Augmented Reality, leading a virtual Santa’s Grotto.
  • Other activities:
    Bringing our favourite childhood characters back into town, a large Wombles mural with a strong environmental message, came to life along the railway tracks into Wimbledon in October. Boards in the foyer of Wimbledon Station were also replaced by the Wombles encouraging us to travel smart, reduce/reuse/recycle, go green and love everything local! 

We thank those of you who took part in our various events or showed your support in other ways. If you missed some of the above then don’t worry – check back to our website for more news and events in 2021!

 


The Community & Business Pull Through Together

If there was ever a time to demonstrate the strength of a community, that time was definitely in 2020.

We saw a tremendous effort from businesses supporting local organisations and wider initiatives (e.g. NHS and key workers), whilst the community showed an overwhelming response to help feed those in need and support the vulnerable. There are so many heroic examples of this such as Wimbledon Guild receiving overwhelming support from the local community and Francis Grove donating space to a Wimbledon-based hospice.

Such a response could be seen from as early on as April 2020, and there seems to be no signs of it dwindling!

 

 

Many new developments are taking place in Wimbledon this year. Click here for more exciting details.

The Wombles are Back in Wimbledon!

Our latest addition to Wimbledon’s budding art scene – a Wombles mural!

Our furry friends are back in Wimbledon, and have come to the rescue to help clean up some unsightly graffiti in the town.

   

Blossoming out of hibernation in January, our favourite childhood characters are back (albeit with a slight new look) to encourage us all to do more for our local environment.

This mural depicts The Wombles painting a wall, to cover the unsightly anti-social graffiti which occupied it, and as always, Orinoco has got in a spot of bother. But of course, the rest of the team are on hand to help out; Tobermory, Alderney, Madame Cholet (with her basket of baked goodies) and Great Uncle Bulgaria (sipping his tea or helping out – we’ll let you decide). You can get yourself a selfie with Great Uncle Bulgaria.

There’s nothing better than a big warm welcome into Wimbledon from The Wombles. The wall art brings smiles to local residents, commuters and visitors entering the town and on their way way to London, by tram and from Croydon and the rest of the South West region.

The mural was brought to life by the brilliant and inspiring Graffiti Kings, via a collaboration between Love Wimbledon and The Wombles, and supported by South Western Railway. 

Love Wimbledon and The Wombles are bringing joint environmental campaigns right to the heart of Wimbledon. If you are passing through Wimbledon Station look at the boards in the foyer below the windows, brightening up the station and spreading the environmental love throughout the community. So Wimbledonians, as The Womble say, this is the time to travel smart, reduce/reuse/recycle, go green and love everything local! 

   

Great Uncle Bulgaria commented:

‘We encourage everyone living, working and shopping in Wimbledon to adopt positive environmental behaviours.  If we all do our bit, we can make the town the greenest in the country.  We hope everyone likes our #WomblesLoveWimbledon message around the town. You’ll spot Tobermory, Alderney, Madame Cholet and Orinoco doing their bit to remove graffiti. I will be drinking a nice cup of tea whilst they are hard at work’.

The Wombles are very much at home in Wimbledon #WomblesLoveWimbledon.

You can find them painted beside the railway tracks in Wimbledon (walk down the side of Little Waitrose, behind Tuition House offices or in Wimbledon station foyer).

Remember that now more than ever, people are recognising the fragility of our planet and the need to be kinder to our environment. So, we’ve put together ideas for how you can shop, eat and live greener in Wimbledon. Visit our Sustainable Wimbledon page.

You can follow Love Wimbledon (@lovewimbledon), The Wombles (@womblesofficial) and The Graffiti Kings (@GraffitiKINGS) on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

*A big thank you to South Western Railway, The Graffiti Kings, The Wombles and of course our Wimbledonians for all your support!