Why The Wombles' Orinoco has been spotted around Newcastle city centre

The Big Issue big debate Community Roadshow in Newcastle city centre with a womble
-Credit: (Image: Exposure Agency / Big Issue)


The Wimbledon football supporters may have travelled home following their match against Newcastle United at St James' Park on Tuesday.

However, one iconic local resident might still be found "Wombling free" around Newcastle city centre this week. Orinoco, a character from the 1968 book series and 70s children's TV show, The Wombles, is paying a visit to Newcastle to learn about the city alongside members of The Big Issue, who have kicked off their national tour in Newcastle on Tuesday.

Dressed in his red hat and scarf, Orinoco has been out and about to help spread the word about The Big Issue and support the vendors who put on their red vest each day to sell the magazine to the public in order to earn an income. Each magazine costs £4, of which vendors are able to keep 50%, while the other 50% goes towards expenses involved with creating and distributing the magazine.

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The Wombles and Big Issue have joined forces for the roadshow due to their shared mission to bring communities together and encourage them to focus on their local area and take positive action to improve it in small, achievable ways.

During the Big Community Roadshow, representatives across the Big Issue Group will be bringing people together to find community-level solutions and campaign for government action on poverty.

Big Issue's editorial team will cover stories that are important to the people of Newcastle and the North East and people will be invited to drop-in and share their stories and alert the team to areas they feel the publication should be focusing on.

There will also be opportunity to discover more about the wider Big Issue Group, including Big Issue Invest, which offers finance to grassroots, change-making organisations, and Big Issue Recruit, a new person-centred employability service for people who face barriers with work. A full breakdown of activities can be found at bigissue.com.

The Big Community Roadshow will culminate in the Big Issue Big Debate – a Question Time-style live event that is open to the people of Newcastle to come armed with questions and ideas for a panel of experts and community leaders to consider. Chaired by Big Issue editor Paul McNamee, the panel will include local figures from the worlds of business, culture, politics and grassroots leadership, including local social entrepreneur Charlotte Windebank and former Big Issue vendor and well-known local personality Earl Charlton, with Big Issue founder Lord John Bird also set to join.

This will take place on October 3 at 7pm at The Common Room in Newcastle. Tickets are available now on Eventbrite.