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Children invited to adopt free teddies at Vintage and Craft Fair
| Published: 18th March 2019 09:36 |
A SOUTHAMPTON charity is offering children the chance to adopt and re-home a teddy bear or a similar cuddly toy at its Vintage and Craft Fair this Saturday (March 23, 2019).
Communicare, which is hosting its twice-yearly charity fair at the Victory Centre, Portswood Road, says it hopes the initiative will help youngsters understand from an early age the importance of caring for others.
Manager at Communicare, Annie Clewlow, explained: "Our charity is all about kind-heartedness and our aim is to help eradicate loneliness in Southampton. Caring for others starts from little seeds like this. We want to encourage kind thoughts from the earliest age.
"We've a crowd of teddies getting ready to be adopted. Now their owners have grown-up and moved on, they are looking for new homes. In exchange for a promise that they will be well cared for by their adoptive ‘parents' they will be going free to new homes at our Vintage and Craft Fair on Saturday, March 23."
The soft toys have all been donated to the charity and following a thorough machine wash, they are being pampered this week before they meet their prospective new owners.
"All the cuddly toys are hoping for a big crowd at our fair this Saturday, so they can find someone willing to take each of them on. Of course, older, grown-up, visitors are also welcome to adopt a teddy if they see one that they feel they can re-home and love!"
Communicare, which is based in the heart of Southampton, is a friendly, neighbourhood charity that enriches the lives of lonely and isolated people in and around the city with the help of its band of Communiteers, who give their time freely.
Communicare's Good Neighbours' Network supports nearly 350 individuals/families annually in Southampton, covering more than 600 different tasks such as one-to-one befriending and transport to activities. All the assistance offered is free to users, although beneficiaries are invited to make a donation if they are able, and Communiteers are offered expenses.
"Our services are run by us and staffed by our committed, kind-hearted, Communiteers, who generously provide their practical and emotional support on a very local level."
Communicare's family-friendly Vintage and Craft Fair is timed for the week before Mothering Sunday with a view to offering a range of more unusual gifts at a variety of prices.
It is hoped the adopt a bear scheme will also draw in the crowds and raise more awareness for the charity and the work it does.
Mum, Emily Arbery, who works for the charity and whose 18-month-old daughter, Olivia, is a well-known visitor to the charity's community tea parties, said: "I love the adopt a bear idea and I hope this will be a really fun element at the Fair, with no cost to parents! Every child can leave with something, however tight their budget is."
Communicare's Vintage and Craft Fair will take place at the Victory Centre on Portswood Road in Southampton on Saturday, March 23 from 11am until 2.30pm. Admission is free.
Anyone wishing to adopt a bear or cuddly toy for free can pop in at any time during the event, which includes many different stalls selling items, as well as refreshments including tea, coffee, squash, cake and soup.
To find out more about Communicare's adopt a bear scheme and the Vintage and Craft Fair, please call 023 8021 6022, visit www.communicareinsouthampton.org.uk or follow the charity on Twitter at @Communicare_SO or log on to www.facebook.com/CommunicareInSouthampton.
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