Charity bear hunt sees lost family teddy returned

WHEN a much-loved teddy bear was mistakenly donated to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), the charity launched a national bear hunt to find and return the beloved toy to its owner.

Elizabeth Dawson-Marsh, 45 from Winchfield, Hook, was busy clearing out the attic and some of her daughter’s old toys to be posted to the British Heart Foundation. It was too late when Elizabeth realised the teddy, Soft Brown Bear, was accidentally mixed up with the donations and shipped off to the charity’s donation centre in Glasgow.

Elizabeth said:

“It was just heart-wrenching when I realised what had happened. The donations were well on their way to Glasgow, so I wasn’t sure if it was possible to get him back, but I knew I needed to at least try!”

Soft Brown Bear is a 1991 Beanie Baby that travelled with Elizabeth to boarding school.

She said:

“It brought me great comfort when I was away from home so, I passed it down to my daughter Minnie, who has a real soft spot for it. She took it with us on our first-ever family holiday to the Isle of Wight and we call it Soft Brown Bear.”

Luckily, as soon as the British Heart Foundation team heard of the missing bear, they jumped into action to try and track it down. Using a tracing system, they located Soft Brown Bear who was 400 miles away from home and sent Elizabeth a picture to verify his identity.

Elizabeth said:

“I could have cried with joy when they sent me a photo of the Soft Brown Bear and told me he was on his way home! Minnie is 13 now, so she doesn’t like to show her feelings, but I could tell how happy she was to have the bear back.”

Elizabeth and her family have been supporters of the BHF since her uncle Roderick Charles Leigh, died while scuba diving in 1997. She explained:

“I have always supported the BHF, we donate to them all the time. My uncle was in his forties and sadly lost his life while he was saving a young lad who had become tangled in cabling.

“As my uncle was cutting him free, the lad looked down and saw him falling deeper into the water. He sadly had a heart attack. We were told this was caused by an inherited high cholesterol condition and could have happened at any time. He was an amazing man, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Military Police who had won awards for his bravery in the 1970s.

“My uncle Mark also had a heart attack, but luckily, he was able to get medical care quickly and is still with us. We support the BHF in Uncle Roderick’s memory.

“All families clear out old toys and organise attics, and it couldn’t be easier to post the bits and pieces you no longer want to find new homes and to save families like mine that are affected by hereditary heart conditions. There’s no doubt Soft Brown Bear would have found a new loving home but we’re not ready to part with him just yet.”

Rebecca Weston, a BHF customer care team leader who helped find Soft Brown Bear, said:

“We’re so happy we could give this story a happy ending and reunite the bear with its family. It must have been un-bear-able to have realised this very important teddy was on his way to us in Glasgow, but we tracked him down and its now back in the care of his family.

“Our free post donation service makes it quick and easy to donate from anywhere in the UK, and our secure tracking ensures the donation arrives safely in our sorting office. If you have any teddy bears or toys lying around, we are very grateful for any donations, so please do consider popping them in the post.”

Post donations to the BHF for free and help fund life-saving research.