THOUSANDS OF TEDDY bears left as tributes to the Manchester Arena attack victims are being donated to charities across Manchester.
Almost 2,000 teddy bears and soft toys were left in St Ann’s Square in the city following the terror attack on 22 May.
The attack saw 22 people killed and hundreds more injured when a device was detonated in the arena following an Ariana Grande concert.
Alongside toys, thousands of letters, gifts and flowers were left in the square.
This week, the teddies will be sent out to children through charities in the Greater Manchester area, including Wood Street Mission and The Toy Appeal.
After the attack, the teddies were all collected by shoe-makers Timpsons.
Members of the army of Women’s Institute (WI) took the teddies from Timpsons and washed and repaired all of them. The teddies all now clean and ready to head off to new owners.
Speaking to Manchester Evening News, Judith Suckling, vice president of Old Trafford WI said: “When we first heard about the attacks we really wanted to help in some way.
“We had talked about doing a fundraising with WI, we talked about doing a collection, but when we were approached about cleaning and drying the teddies we thought it was a fantastic idea to do something to help.
She said that the teddies had a strong smell of rain and damp and the WI made the decision to wash them all and restore them to a fit for purpose state.
A teddy is a symbol of happiness and all of the teddies are smiling.
People left them as a tribute, and maybe they were sad when they were leaving them but I think the people that left them will be surprised that so much love and care has been taken.
“They’re going to be passed onto charities and they’re going to be given to children to enjoy for the rest of their journey.”
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