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Dawn J May 4, 2012

Hi

In September 2012, I, Dawn James of Hugs Unlimited and my husband, Chris Elliott, are planning to complete the WSPA Bear Adventure, a 50 mile trek across the Carpathian Mountains in the Romanian region of Transylvania. The aim of the trek is to  raise money for WSPA’s work in building an extension to their sanctuary for rescued bears in Zarnesti, Romania, as well as contributing to food and vet bills for the bears already in the sanctuary.

Our plan is to raise £5,000 for WSPA, and to help achieve that, we are writing to all the bear artists we know and asking them if they would be willing to donate a bear (or other animal) to be sold in aid of WSPA.

We would love it if you felt able to donate a bear for this worthwhile cause. We already have some great artists involved, but would like to see some more.

We appreciate the amount of time that goes into making a bear, but also appreciate how many Artists are animal lovers, and hope you don't mind us asking for your help.

If you are a collector and would like to be put on a mailing list for these bears please let me know.

We will be setting  up a website and the bears will go on sale late June/Early July,  for each artist who donates a bear, we will include a link on our page to their own website, if they have one, or any similar information, such as Facebook page etc. Photos of donated bears will go on our Facebook page as soon as they are received, and the sale will be well publicised throughout the bear collecting world.

If you are able to help, or would like further information about the sale, please email hugsunlimited @ btinternet.com (closing the gaps)

If you would like to know more about the sanctuary, go to http://www.wspa.org.uk/wspaswork/bears/ … fault.aspx

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks in advance if you are able to donate a bear to this sale/auction.

2 users like this: BFB-Lyn, peterbear

peterbear May 4, 2012

It's so great that you and Chris are doing the trek again!  :thumbsup:

I hope that lots of artists will contribute bears and you can count on me to adopt one (or two...  ).

Be sure to put me on the mailing list, so I don't miss out on anything!

Hugs,  :rose:

Peter & the Hugs Unlimited Gang

Dawn J May 4, 2012

Thank you Peter, you can be sure that you will be the first to know when any bears go online. We have the first bear which I believe you have seen on the Facebook Page, a lovely bear by Kathryn Downey. We have other artists who are making one for us, and of course there will be a Hugs Unlimited bear.

To be honest, I think we are a bit crazy to do the trek again, I'm still as unfit as ever and still can't walk up a hill without feeling the need of an oxygen tank! I do try to lose weight and and we do a lot of training, but then I get hungry and eat ice cream and cake.  :wacko:

We are really late getting started with the fund-raising this year, mainly because we were not sure whether we could go or not, when we book we have to pay a large deposit which covers the plane fare and our food/accommodation, this we have to pay ourselves, we finally got that together last week, so now we can concentrate on the fund-raising for the bears. I hope lots of artists will contribute bears as well, but I do realise that it is a lot to ask of them. If anyone can help us with any other fund-raising ideas then please feel free. We are in the processing of emailing all the artists in the Teddy Bear Guide as well.

dangerbears May 4, 2012

Dawn, will the teddy bears be going for set prices, and will the artists be setting those prices?

Becky

Dawn J May 4, 2012

Dawn, will the teddy bears be going for set prices, and will the artists be setting those prices?

Becky

Hi Becky

I am more than happy for the artists to set the prices, also to photograph them. I strongly believe that artists know the value of their work better than anyone else, and that they are the best people to photograph them as well. Our intention is to have a period of time where the bears are on sale at fixed prices, this will probably be 2/3 weeks close to the beginning of July. After that, any that remain unsold (hopefully none) will go to auction - with a reserve price if necessary. I appreciate that I am asking a lot of artists, and I really appreciate those who want to offer a bear. I want to make sure that the money raised properly reflects the bears that have been donated.

I am also open to suggestions.

Hope this helps

Dawn

dangerbears May 4, 2012

Thanks, Dawn. That does help, and everything makes sense to me.

After all, if the teddy bears sell at good prices, then the real bears get a substantial benefit, too (besides watching you and Chris hike up those mountains).

Becky

Dawn J May 5, 2012

Thanks, Dawn. That does help, and everything makes sense to me.

After all, if the teddy bears sell at good prices, then the real bears get a substantial benefit, too (besides watching you and Chris hike up those mountains).

Becky

   

Yes, I am sure we can hear the bears laughing as my ample rear puffs up the mountain!  :lol:

The bears get substantial rewards with a good price, plus the artist's work is not under-valued I think that is important.

Dawn J May 7, 2012

I have had some great offers of bears from artists, but I would still like some more so that the sale will make lots of money for the bears. Food for thought, one artist who is donating a bear said 'I would love to, after all without real bears we would not have any teddy bears'.

If anyone would like to donate at bear, I will need the photo by 25th June. The sale will then go live a few days later, and any unsold bears will go to auction. Postage will be paid direct to the artist via Paypal and the cost of the bear will go direct to WSPA.

This is a link to a video that one of the participants of the trek last year made, it gives some idea of what bears have to suffer. A donation of a bear could make a real difference to these bears lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnvqowN … e=youtu.be

If you feel unable to donate a bear but would like to make a donation, our donation page is: www.justgiving.com/dawnandchris2012

Thank you for your support.

Dawn J May 17, 2012

We are getting lots of promises of bears in, and have received some photos/bears already. We are very grateful to everyone who has pledged a bear to us. There is still plenty of time if you would like to donate a bear. The vent will start on 30th June.
There is also a page on Facebook which has photos of some of the bears already donated. If you are on Facebook, please 'like' the page which can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Teddy-Bea … 5163597839 There are also details of how you can win qa £25 voucher from The Bear Shop in Norwich.

This lovely bear was donated by Jo Symon of Joxy Bears

Dawn J Jun 13, 2012

We are delighted to report that we have now had nearly 50 offers of bears from kind and generous artists, shops and manufacturers. The deadline for receiving photos of the bears is 20th June and the Event will start on 29th June and run to 14th July. So still plenty of time to donate a bear.

If you would like to donate a bear please email me at: hugsunlimited@btinternet.com

I would like to take this opportunity to give a huge thank you to everyone who has donated a bear already. I can assure you that every penny of the money raised will go to helping bears that have been the subject of unspeakable cruelty before finding peace and happiness in the WSPA funded Sanctuary in Romania.

You can read all about the santuary and the mountain trek in the latest edition of The Teddy Bear.

1 user likes this: peterbear

peterbear Jun 13, 2012

Dawn,

Can you please post a reminder here when the sale starts? 
I really don't want to miss it! 

Dawn J Jun 13, 2012

Dawn,

Can you please post a reminder here when the sale starts? 
I really don't want to miss it!  :whistle:

Hi
Peter sale starts on 29th June  6.00 p.m. UK time.  I will post plenty of reminders near the time.

Hugs

Dawn xxx

Dawn J Jun 27, 2012

Hi
Just a quick reminder that the Teddy Bears for WSPA events starts at 7.00 p.m. on Friday 29th June and will run for approx 3 weeks. However, to get the bear of your dreams probably best to get in as early as possible on Friday. 

We have an amazing selection of bears, other animals and bear related items, so something for everyone. 

You can find a list of who has donated on the website already - if your name is on there and it shouldn't be please let me know, or if it should be and it isn't or if it is and it is wrong.

Looking forward to seeing lots of new bears going to new homes, and to lots of real bears getting their vets bills and food paid for.

Just to confirm,  every penny will go to WSPA for their Bear Sanctuary in Romania. Chris and I walking 50 miles to raise money for the Bear Sanctuary, but the money for our flights and accommodation has already been paid for by us.

1 user likes this: teeeej

peterbear Jun 28, 2012

I will be there!! 

FenBeary Folk Jul 11, 2012

Just a little plug for Dawn

http://www.teddybearsforwspa.co.uk/

Here is the website and there are a few bears still left, so go and have a peak, it's such a good cause 

1 user likes this: peterbear