Teddy bear auction raises £1,685 for hospice
THE sale of 40 teddy bears at an auction house in Fradley Park helped raise more than £1,600 for a children’s hospice.
Sold at Richard Winterton Auctioneers, on Wood End Lane, the collection of Charlie Bears raised money for Acorns Children’s Hospice to help with the care of children with life limiting and life threatening conditions, and support for their families.
Some individual bears, which are made in the UK and collected by avid fans across the world, sold over estimate and fetched up to £70 each.
Vicki Behan, supporter services manager for Acorns, said: “This was a grrr-eat collection of unique and loveable teddy bears which were put up for auction by a generous local collector to help raise funds for our lifeline care of local children and their families.
“We are very grateful to her and to Richard Winterton Auctioneers for generating as much money as possible for this highly sought-after cute collection.
“We hope the bears have gone to their fur-ever homes and to kind new owners whose interest means we can continue to be there for children and families when they need us the most.”
Charlie Bear panda ‘Monium’ and ‘Alicia’ were two of the stars in the collection, along with the exclusively designed ‘Squizzle’ and ‘Smidgen’.
The bears’ former owner, who did not wish to be named, said she had collected the teddies over several years and added that each bear was special in its own way, and she was ‘very pleased’ with the amount raised for the charity. Auctioneer Richard Winterton, who waived all fees for the sale, said: “Acorns provides vital support for hundreds of families across the West Midlands, and when the seller said they wanted to auction the collection of bears for such an important cause, we were delighted to help.
“There was lots of interest from bidders on the day, and hammer prices totalled a fantastic £1,685.”