Nursing students at Staffordshire University have raised over £1,000 following a charity fun day at a Longton pub. 

The money will be used to buy unique teddy bears to support children at local hospitals, including Royal Stoke University Hospital in Trent Vale.

The specialist bears feature imitation medical devices – such as feeding tubes, colostomy bags and hearing aids – to help children come to terms with their own device and create a sense of normality.

BSc (Hons) Nursing Practice (Child) student Kirsty Taylor and course mates Vicky Brooks, Chloe Dutton, Jemma Gough and Sam Nsiah were inspired to start fundraising after working with children with complex disabilities and long-term health conditions during their placements.

On Sunday, (20 August), they hosted a Charity Family Fun Day at John Marston's Pub in Longton.

The money will be used to buy unique teddy bears for children at local hospitals (Staffordshire University).

The family event included face painting, games, raffles, a bouncy castle and special guest appearance from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Kirsty, 34, explained: "We have come across an amazing company called 3D Toy Shop, who are a non-profit company that make special teddies to be just like the children, with their own imitation medical devices, such as pacemakers, hearing aids, long lines etc the list goes on.

"There is no other company around who make these teddies and we would like to fundraise as much as possible so we can buy some teddies to donate to the children's oncology wards at Stoke-on-Trent and Telford and also to the community team.

"Our passion is to help as many children as possible and we feel we can put a huge smile on a child's face by giving them their own teddy that matches them whilst going through such a tough and long journey ahead.

"Ultimately, we want these bears to be available in every healthcare trust to help normalise children's medical conditions and make them feel special."

Click here to find out more about the 'Share a Bear' fundraiser or make a donation.

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