A Telford businessman has handed over one of the last limited edition teddy bears to be produced at his world famous factory to help raise hundreds of pounds for charity.Oliver Holmes, who owns the historic Merrythought factory in Ironbridge, has handed over the grey teddy bear to staff at Wrekin College for their charity auction of promises and gifts to be held on Saturday.
The auction will raise cash for Medic Malawi to pay for the second phase of The Wrekin Orphan House in Malawi, Africa. A group of staff and students travelled to Malawi to build the first orphan house in 2005, after raising nearly £20,000.
They will be returning to Malawi in July to complete the second part, which will be home to another 30 orphans. The Shropshire Star’s crime correspondent Kirsty Marston will be joining them on the trip.
Mr Holmes said he was pleased to be able to help Wrekin College and hoped people would dig deep for the bear, which retails at more than £100.
He said: “The project Wrekin College is working on sounds very exciting and it is great that they will actually be going out there to see where and how the money is spent. I hope the bear will help to boost their funds.”
The factory closed its doors last year after Mr Holmes said he had been forced out of the industry by competition from abroad.
But he is hoping to reopen the famous site as a tourist centre later this year. He wants to open a centre with retail, arts and crafts outlets and a cafe.
He also said he hoped to start making Merrythought teddy bears again.
County businesses have offered gifts for auction including Ruckley Flowers at Shifnal, JJB, Ironbridge Gorge Museums Trust, the Shropshire Star, Shrewsbury Town Football Club and boxer Richie Woodhall.
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