Sir Paul McCartney partners with The Wombles in campaign encouraging people to eat less meat

Campaign launched as part of Cop26

(Getty Images)

Sir Paul McCartney has launched a new campaign that aims to encourage people to eat less meat by partnering with The Wombles, the classic children’s TV characters originating in the 1970s.

The partnership is part of the #OneStepGreener campaign for Cop26 and will see The Wombles, a family of litter-picking animals, support McCartney's Meat Free Monday initiative, which was launched in 2009 as a way of encouraging people to go without meat at least once a week.

The new partnership will see two plant-based recipes, created especially for the campaign, presented by The Wombles in two short animated films.

McCartney, 79, composed the song that features in the short films.

The recipes will be published on the Meat Free Monday website, with the first one dropping on 1 November and the second on 8 November.

Named after The Wombles characters, the two recipes are Madame Cholet’s Chilli Non Carne and Tobermory’s Corn and Courgette Fritters.

Speaking on behalf of The Wombles, Great Uncle Bulgaria said: “We love the Meat Free Monday campaign.

“Reducing the amount of meat we eat is good for the planet, good for animals and good for our health.

“We hope that the super tasty recipes created by Madame Cholet and Tobermory will encourage everyone to go meat free for at least one day a week.”

The Wombles originated in a series of children’s novels written by Elizabeth Beresford. They followed a group of animals who lived below Wimbledon Common and collected and recycled litter.

The TV series of the same name debuted in 1973 and ran until 1975.