‘Team Womble’ train for marathon

Great Uncle Bulgaria and friend

The 30-strong Wombles Running Team is in training for its 17th London Marathon, on 22 April, to raise money for Jesuit Missions, based in Wimbledon. Runners will be raising funds for Jesuit-run projects around the world, as well as for the Jesuit Refugee Service in the UK. This year’s target for the team is £75,000.

Wombles’ author, the late Elizabeth Beresford, gave permission for the friendly rodents' name to be used. Alan Fernandes, local resident and former assistant director of the charity, dreamed up the idea and will be running as part of the team alongside other supporters, staff and pupils from Jesuit Schools, members of Jesuit parishes and Paul Nenjerama, a school headmaster from Harare, who will be taking part for the third time.

Four runners are ‘invited’ each year to don the impressive Wombles costumes and become Great Uncle Bulgaria, Wellington, Orinoco and Bungle while the rest of the team run as mere mortals. ‘Remember you’ re a Womble’ trips off spectators’ tongues around all 26 miles 385 yards of the course as the characters jog past, resisting the temptation to challenge onlookers to pick up litter which, as we all know, is the Wombles purpose in life!

And the expected time of these running rats? The fastest have completed the course in under three and a half hours. The rest take part for the sense of achievement and not for glory - and to raise funds for projects such as a drugs rehabilitation programme in Guyana, survival migrants in South Africa, a music and arts project in Zimbabwe, as well as assisting destitute asylum seekers in the UK.

New assistant director of Jesuit Missions, Richard Greenwood said: "everyone loves the Wombles and Elizabeth Beresford’s generosity in letting us use them has given our funding raising a massive focus over the years. We owe her a huge vote of thanks and we wish all our runners well, both in their training and on the big day."

So, the next time you see litter on the ground, think of a Womble and pick it up or alternatively go to www.justgiving.com/jesuitmissions  to give just a little to a seriously good cause.