Trauma teddies organiser 'humbled' by impact

The bears have been used to provide comfort to victims

A woman who organised the delivery of thousands of teddy bears to people suffering from trauma, including those affected by the Southport attacks, says she feels "humbled" by the impact they have had.

Jess Pearce, from Wallasey in Merseyside, made her first "trauma bear" about three years ago for the someone who ran a homelessness centre and, after seeing his reaction, set up a Facebook group so others could get involved.

More than 6,000 people from the UK and abroad have now joined the project, with the woollen bears being sent to care home residents, refugees and victims of the war in Ukraine.

Mrs Pearce said she put a callout for more of the cuddly toys after the murder of three girls at a dance class in Southport last July.

Jess Pearce and her husband also distributed bears for those impacted by the Southport attack

The retired care manager said "it was not just the families that were affected by it, it was all the children that lost their friends, so I thought it would be a good idea to give a bear to children so that they had a friend".

"We received thousands - people were sending them to me from all over the UK," she said.

"My husband and I went over to Southport and we went to a fire station and a man who worked there was overwhelmed with how many we gave."

The crews distributed the bears to other emergency services and schools locally, which Mrs Pearce described as "humbling".

"You could feel the deep sense of mourning for the whole area. It was really moving and then you felt the positivity that the bears were going to bring."

The bears have been distributed in schools and healthcare settings

She said the group's co-ordinators across the country ensure the soft toys are sent to the most suitable locations, adding: "This helps make sure we can spread the teddy love.

"A friend helps an outreach team in Liverpool once every month and we sent trauma bears over there, and we hear that when they were giving the bears out, one man said: 'Now I've got a friend'.

"They've now got one trolley called the 'teddy trolley' and it's purely full of teddy bears our team have made and it's wonderful."

"Some of our bears have also gone to women who have lost babies, which is very humbling."