Aidan achieves his teddy target

THE 10,500 teddy bears a Widnes teenager collected to remember his friend are to go to loving homes.

Last week, Aidan Jackson, 14, filled the Select Security Stadium, the home of Widnes Vikings, with teddies in honour of Olivia Walker, who died in 2014.

Along with the bears from the teddy bear challenge, he raised £2,600 for the Olivia Alice foundation.

Aidan donated more than half of the stuffed animals to Bearly Loved, which gives bears to disadvantaged children.

The non-profit organisation’s founder says, because of Aidan’s generous donation, they will apply for charity status.

Andrea Lea, from Cheshire, said: “This is a huge donation and we want to make it count. With Aidan donating so many teddy bears it is going to allow our goals to happen to get the funding that we need.”

Andrea said the goal was to set up a programme that would send one bear to each school in the UK as an ambassador bear.

There would then be a ‘Bring a bear to school day’ where children could bring one teddy bear and £1 to donate.

That money would be used to ship a teddy to a child in need and tracked through a passport system.

She envisions a ‘ bear republic’ which would let people see where their bears go online.

Andrea, who founded Bearly Loved in 2013, said: “What [Aidan] has started will be a catalyst for so many children for feeling loved.”

Bearly Loved has never received a donation of this size, receiving 9,000 bears over the last two years in total.

A wedding warehouse has kindly offered to store the teddies for Lea. She has not counted the bears from Aidan yet, but Aidan’s mum says it should be more than half of the 10,500.

Aidan has given the rest of the bears to charities across Merseyside, some were donated to an infant who had brain cancer and MacMillian Cancer Support, while a car-load of teddies was also donated to a fundraising effort to help pay for a 19-yearold’s funeral. Another heap of stuffed animals went to Warrington Disability Partnership to help fundraising.

Other recipients include local charity shops such as HAFS, Barnardo’s, Claire House and The Children’s Society.

Aidan’s mum, Caroline Jackson, said: “I am immensely proud.

“It is unbelievable what he has managed to achieve.”