MORE THAN 200 teddy bears of all shapes and sizes swarmed over at Saddleworth School last month as kind-hearted pupils got stuck into a special project…
Every class in the school donated at least one teddy and money – raising more than £500 – as part of Project Paddington to send some comfort and help to refugee children.
Teacher Mrs Kernohan, who is head of history, gave assemblies to explain the work the organisation does in partnership with Tearfund to deliver the bears and money across Europe.
The scheme was set up by trainee vicar Joy French for her local schools in Sheffield but within weeks had spread nationwide and has sent thousands of teddies abroad so far.
And Mrs Kernohan decided to get Saddleworth School involved for their annual project, which last year saw them fill 120 shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.
With the help of a team of students, all the teddies – which ranged from bears big and small to monkeys and giraffes – were named, labelled with a kind message and packaged.
Then they were delivered by Mrs Kernohan and the pupils to a depot in Stockport ready to be distributed by Project Paddington to refugee camps on the continent.
Mrs Kernohan said: “The children have been incredible – we had to stop them bringing in teddies as we just had too many to label and package and couldn’t manage any more!
“There has been so much to organise and my volunteers have done a wonderful job.”
The hard-working team comprised: Violet Winterbottom, Eve Douglas, Zoe Parry, Katie Ball, Emily Rawsthorne, Maisie Jackson, Katie Agarwal, Grace Malone and Roshni Parmar-Hill.
For more information about Project Paddington, go online.
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