Some 50 teddies have been collected for The Teddy Trust charity recently at an all age worship service at St. John’s Church, Lepton in Huddersfield.
The Teddy Trust collect teddies to go to children who have suffered trauma or abuse, and those that live in war zones.
Since 2015 they’ve sent out nearly 100,000 teddies throughout the world.
Revd Val Keating led the service, and said: “It’s important for us to have an impact on the wider world, and the teddy bear donation was something that all ages could have an understanding of.
“Every single bear will have a positive impact – it makes you cry when you think that these may be the only gift that a child may receive.
“We pray that the children who receive these bears have hope for a brighter future, as we also pray for the war-torn countries and for peace in our world”.
The theme of the service was the story of Zaccheus, with a teddy bears’ picnic twist.
The Bible reading was told in a more modern context with a drama, and at the point where Jesus and Zaccheus went to eat together, the congregation were invited to join in a picnic with the teddies.
Cheese, bread, hummus and grapes were shared – the food that that Jesus and Zaccheus may have eaten at their meal.
The teddy bears were then left at the altar, each one with a handwritten label that had a message of love to the recipient.
It is likely that these teddies will go to children in Syria, and they will go with the love of the people of Lepton.