Retirement village teams up with teddy charity

A Hereford retirement village has teamed up with a teddy charity that distributes thousands of teddy bears a year.

The Rose Garden along the Ledbury Road in Hereford is now a drop off point for teddy bears which are collected and sent to children worldwide who have suffered the horrors of war, sexual abuse, hunger and poverty.

The relationship came about when colleagues at the Platform Housing run village contacted the Leominster based charity The Teddy Trust to inform them that it was organising a preloved children’s toy and clothing event and asking them whether this would be an opportunity for any unwanted bears to be donated.

Subsequently, the charity visited the village and – situated in a central residential area with a number of schools nearby – it was agreed that it would make an ideal venue.

Isabella Hadley, Retirement Villages Service Manager at Platform Housing Group said: “We are so pleased to be able to help such a worthwhile local charity.  Teddy bears give joy to all generations, to our colleagues when they arrive at our village and to the children who receive them in war torn countries.”

The retirement village also runs a Knit and Natter group who have found ways to add a little bit extra to the initiative; group members now knit jumpers for the bears which mothers can also use for their babies during the colder months.

Ellie Somme, the founder of the Trust said: “We would like to say a very heartfelt thank you to the residents of The Rose Garden in Hereford. Each year we send around 15,000 teddy bears and believe that every bear, given with love, can bring a little healing into very bleak lives.”

The Teddy Trust work in countries such as Greece, Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria and South Africa; for further information please visit www.teddytrust.org.uk.

Photo caption: l to r, Selwyn Wynter, Trustee at The Teddy Trust and Elena Daffurn, Retirement Housing Officer at Platform Housing Group team up at The Rose Garden, Hereford to become a teddy drop off point for the Teddy Trust.