A nursery school on the edge of Carlisle has donated hundreds of pounds to Jigsaw, Cumbria’s Children’s Hospice thanks to a special gift of collectible teddy bears.
The owners of Stone Eden Nursery School David and Jenn Farrell had been gifted a significant number of highly collectible Silver Tag Bears following the death of a family friend.
The collection of Silver Tag Bears belonged to Lesley Little, the wife of a Border Harriers competitor and coach John, with the Farrell family having a long-standing association with the athletics club. Lesley died earlier this year following a number of health issues.
The nursery, which is based just outside of Carlisle, then decided to auction off the collection of bears to raise money for charity, with Jigsaw who is the nursery’s preferred charity, receiving £400.
Vicki Lesley, from the hospice’s fundraising team, visited the nursery recent to accept the cheque and meet the children. She said: “Jigsaw is the only children’s hospice in Cumbria and relies heavily on the generosity of our community to continue caring for local children with life limiting illnesses.
“We’d like to say a huge thank you to Stone Eden Nursery School for their wonderful support and to all those who bought bears through their auction.”
As well as raising money for Jigsaw, the auction also raised funds for LIVErNORTH, a liver patient support charity based at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle.
Jennifer Reeves, commercial manager at the nursery, said: “It has been a pleasure raising the money for Jigsaw and LIVErNORTH, we were so pleased to be able to send £400 to both of our chosen charities. The bears were adorable and they have all gone to new homes to be collected and enjoyed.”
