Welcome to Vik the Viking's web site! Vik is the mascot of the Litter Free Largs Campaign, which was initiated in 2008 by two friends who saw a need to make people aware of the amount of litter and rubbish which was defacing our lovely seaside resort on the Ayrshire coast in Scotland.

One of the two campaigners is an artist and she painted a picture of our invented mascot, based on a wee wooden figure she had owned from childhood. Right away,Vik was born! Obviously, he needed some publicity so we raised enough money from a local businessman's donation and from the Largs Initiative (an organisation set up for the benefit of the community) to have some posters printed. Naturally, we also needed a good slogan, so I contacted the local secondary school and ran a competition to find a student who could produce one. Chloe came up with a great rap for us and won the competition. She's very proud to see her slogan on the posters which are now distributed to shops and businesses in the town.

In the meantime, I met a local author, Jack Hastie, who writes Viking stories for children. I asked him to write one about Vik, incorporating the anti litter message, but in a positive way. He soon produced a wonderful short story, which we took around the primary schools in Largs to share with the children.  (Link To Story)

While Jack was writing his story, I got started on a Vik doll to show the children as well. He's about 30cm tall with a lot of red hair under his helmet and a beard, and he carries his shield and sword with pride! 

We hope that Vik will become so well known in Largs that there'll be no need for a poster, and that he'll be adopted by the town generally.

It's EVERYONE'S responsibility to keep the environment clean. We need to work WITH each other, not against. There's no reason why anyone cannot take away their own rubbish if the litter bins are full, which often is the case on holiday weekends. I wonder how these visitors would feel if they returned to Largs another day and found their rubbish was still where they'd left it? It certainly wouldn't be a place they'd come back to after that - would it?

We love having visitors in Largs, to enjoy all that is on offer here - stunning scenery, a small town on the edge of the sea and full of delightful little shops for browsing. You'll get a warm welcome from us in Largs, as long as you don't leave a mess behind you.

My final plea is to the local people of Largs who think dropping litter doesn't matter. This is YOUR town and it DOES matter! We all want to live in a clean and beautiful place - if we have the first thing, the second will follow. Let's ALL be responsible for teaching ourselves and our youngsters that truth.

Let's have YOUR views on this important issue!   info@viktheviking.co.uk