Teddy Appeal Update

Hello all! Just to let you know that the teddies went to the John Radcliffe at the beginning of December to find new homes!  We had a very busy weekend getting them all prepared and I want to especially thank my little helpers Kaya, Altay, Jessica and Charlotte. Not forgetting Julie Smith too so thank you all! With the incredible help from Build a Bear and all of you who donated to this appeal, we managed to send 137 teddies! Build a Bear have been amazing again this year and we cannot thank them enough.

The majority of the bears will find new homes via the John Radcliffe Hospital and their current patients and others will be distributed out to other Oncology units and various hospitals. We will send you all an update in the New Year but just wanted to let you all know how we got on and also to forward on this lovely email I received from the hospital. It truly is the simplest things in life that can make a huge difference so if you are having a stressful time today or over Christmas, please step back and take a breath. That includes me! Thank you to all of you from the bottom of our hearts. x

Message from John Radcliffe

Oh Figen!

The Bears! They are amazing! There’s not a single child on the ward today not clutching one! They are everywhere!  

The parents are just as delighted and have given some wonderful feedback already – I will make sure I collate it for you to use. The distribution got underway swiftly with our community nurses taking them on home visits yesterday afternoon to give to children currently receiving care at home, another set is being taken to Reading Hospital oncology clinic on Tuesday and so the rollout continues. The playroom is lined with them in bags ready for the children to choose one and its working really well.

The little girl whom you organised a break for back in the Summer is in having more treatment and her mum realised you were the one part of this too, so sends special thanks and her daughter’s other friend on treatment has called her teddy Whoopsee and they are going to have a tea party together with their teddies. Can anything make you smile more today? Such a lovely, lovely thing to do – please tell the boys their pocket money has gone an incredibly long way this week and we are all very grateful to you and your supporters.

Massive thanks

Gemma