Iwan Thomas unveils Wonky the Woodpecker in Winchester play area
Winchester City Council launched a new initiative to get children outdoors and active.
Olympic medallist Iwan Thomas along with the Mayor of Winchester officially unveiled the new wooden totem of Wonky the Woodpecker at Abbotts Walk in Winchester.
Wonky the woodpecker is the brainchild of the Landscape and Open Spaces Team to raise awareness of our open spaces. The Council is working hard to create an individual feel to each play area so it is worth travelling to try out every site.
Iwan Thomas said:
I’m a great advocate for improving health and wellbeing of young people. Asking children to find where all the ‘Wonkys’ are hidden adds to the fun of being outdoors. I particularly like the leaflet with the walking routes on to link up all the play areas
The Mayor of Winchester, Cllr Jane Rutter said:
The Council play sites feature a range of different play equipment and we want to encourage people to try other sites, some of which may actually be closer to them but perhaps less well known.
Wonky the Woodpecker is unique to Winchester, the story behind his bent beak is all captured in a song that local primary school children have been learning.
The aim of the project is to support the work of Feet First Campaign, a key council priority to improve health and wellbeing. The Council is keen to encourage local residents particularly children to explore all the Council’s play areas. Wonky has hidden a letter with a picture of himself which children can collect to learn the names of Wonky’s friends at every Winchester play area owned by the City Council.
The objective is that children visit other sites and search for the hidden letters.