Sunday 20 September 2015

The teddy bear invasion

Hello. I heard about these teddies from my friend who is a member of Loving Hands, they are ladies who knit, crochet, and sew for charity. St Mary's Church in Barton upon Humber have been collecting these teddy hand puppets which are destined for children in poorer parts of the world. Today they were on display so I went along to take photographs. Almost 4,000 teddies in total decorate the whole church. They will be packed up and shipped off to places where they will give pleasure to children who don't have very much. It was a lovely sight to see, so many volunteers have given their time to make these, which will brighten up someone's life when they reach their destination. 
















If you fancy doing some knitting, sewing, or crochet for charity have a look at the Loving Hands web site for some ideas. Or if you want to pack a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child, check out this web site.  

While I was in Barton I went to Tesco to use a £3 off voucher against a £20 shop, valid last day today.  I timed it right because the assistant was marking down the final yellow sticker reductions, and I got some real bargains. Sadly though I didn't get to use the voucher. My yellow stickers only came to £4.44, plus two items at normal price, which brought the total spend to £6.39. It was 3.45pm (closing at 4pm) when I went through the checkout, there was no way I was going to rush around putting more items in the trolley just to make it up to the £20.  A quick list of what I got. Broccoli, avocado's, Muller rice, mangetout peas, pears, prepared fruit, chopped veg soup mix, sweet and crunchy salad, potato wedges, mushrooms, courgettes,  and houmous. The fridge is full again.  
Thanks for popping in. Catch up soon. Toodle pip

18 comments:

  1. what lovely teddies

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  2. What a heartwarming display! Kudos to everyone who contributes teddies and gift boxes and allsorts to children whose lives will be brightened, possibly in ways we cannot even imagine. Thanks for posting all these pics, Ilona - made my evening!

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  3. Hi.Oh, look at all those teddies.They will be a great hit with the children.They look incongruously happy and cute in that beautiful old church. It is so nice to see the wonderful work of volunteers for good causes.I have donated Christmas boxes ,also,and it always gave me a lift to give back.We are so fortunate and all the consumerism around holidays can be very grating on me. The food items from your grocery shopping are very good bargains and I only wish it were so here.We had very good corn on the cob today from our local farmer's market and crisp juicy apples in season.Yum! Bye for now,D.

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  4. That is so sweet. Looks like the whole teddy bear family attended church and a teddy bear choir. I love that and a great charity.

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  5. I love to see all and any kind of crafting done for charitable purposes. The countless teddies lined up in this church was positively cheerful and some of the best news I have seen in a long time. I think of all those individual crafters, doing their little part, and it all adds up to some amazing good works. Thank you for sharing. Mary Jane in Canada.

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  6. Blimey! Bear Central!. Love it! x

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  7. All the teddies with their sweet smiling faces really cheered me up. It's good to see how kind and caring people are.
    Chris

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  8. I love all the puppets. It's good that the charity wants sewed items too - I can't knit but I can sew so I'd like to make a simple fabric blanket! I've given items for Samaritan's Purse - the boxes are stocked at Norwich and Peterborough Building Society around Christmas time. Loved your recent photos of your latest adventure. Natalie

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  9. Those teddies look absolutely brilliant en masse, and they will be even more so when they are lighting up a child's eyes with pleasure. How wonderful to be able to get photos of them while they are together.

    Operation Christmas Box is a wonderful thing isn't it.

    You did the right thing leaving the supermarket with your bargain buys and forgetting about using the coupon, it's oh so easy to grab the wrong things if you don't have a planned list of what to buy. Which I exactly what I have been doing, making a list that is. I have £5 off a £50 spend at M&S, I wouldn't normally be tempted by it but there are things I need today, so I've been writing a list of meat items we will need up to and including Christmas so I have reached the target easily..... I will be keeping my eyes open for a few yellow stickered items as I go round though, Monday morning is usually a good time to get them in the Llandudno M&S.

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  10. Love the teddies, me and my girls do operation Christmas child every year (details are sent to us through school) they enjoy helping with the putting together of the box. I always do this as I hate the thought of kids having nothing on Christmas day. We put a mix of useful and fun things in. X

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  11. What wonderful bargains and great teddies. Don't they look absolutely adorable on mass like that. If I have a money off coupon I always visit the shops website and see if I can spend it extra wisely.

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  12. What a magnificent collection of teddies! I am sure they will be loved a lot!

    I am currently making a teddy too - there are so many refugee children in Germany and I want to brighten up a little ones day! :)

    Take care
    Anne
    Crochet Between Worlds

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  13. Love your photos of the teddies!!! So bright and cheery:) We do Operation Christmas Child here in America's midwest, as well.

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  14. The teddies are so cute and what a wonderful cause, bringing joy to a child. I looked at the Loving Hands website and it is so uplifting. I'm going to go back and read it more. I see that their Autumn project is making blankets for refugees.

    I have not looked at the Operation Christmas Child website yet. There are so many good people in the world.

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  15. I am so envious of the discipline and self control you have when it comes to grocery shopping. I should be shopping EXACTLY like you do .... however, when I get to the grocery store, I put far too much stuff in the cart and I buy items I should not be eating at all. It's my 'comfort' food/zone .... and it's tough to beat that frame of mind. I grew up in a time when food was scarce, our pantry was empty and everyone was just about fighting over left overs. Oh well, it's something I have to work at and probably will have to work at for the rest of my life ..... but I really enjoy reading about your grocery shopping trips and living vicariously through you :) I wish we had yellow stickers at our grocery store ..... we never do though but I can't complain that much ..... If I was as disciplined as you are, I could make it work. One day! Best wishes, an expat living in the USA.

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  16. Flipping fabulous teddies and all the dear hands that made them...you are a blessing!

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