LEWES residents have donated their pre-loved teddy bears to help vulnerable children across the UK.

The charity drive was organised by Lewes-based funeral home Cooper & Son in partnership with the UK’s leading children’s charity, Barnardos.

Part of the C.P.J. Field family, Cooper & Son launched the appeal for pre-loved teddy bears at the beginning of January to celebrate Winnie the Pooh Day.

In just one month, Cooper & Son received 171 teddy bears at the branch on the High Street.

The donated toys will now be sent to the local Barnardos service, to help bring joy to the lives of vulnerable children.

C.P.J Field has a special connection with the character, as the company carried out the funeral service for its creator, A.A Milne, 62 years ago.

This marks the second year that C.P.J Field has held the appeal.

The family-owned funeral directors have built on the success of last year’s campaign by extending the appeal across all 38 branches in the south east of England.

Thanks to the generosity of local communities across the region, the business has collected a total of 1,130 teddy bears for Barnardos services across the UK.

Damian Norman, community champion for Cooper & Son, works to challenge negative perceptions of funeral directors by working closely with the local community.

Damian said: “We are hugely grateful to the people of Lewes for supporting our Barnardos appeal.

“The generosity of the local community, and the number of teddy bears donated has been overwhelming.

“It’s a great time of year to run this appeal, as lots of families have surplus toys after the festive period.

“We hope these donations bring some much-needed joy to the lives of the children under the care of Barnardos, much like Winnie the Pooh has done for many generations.”

CPJ Field is a funeral service provider, which operates funeral homes across Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Dorset, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and South London.