Commemorative bears given to babies born the day the UK’s newest royal was announced

Wednesday 8 May 2019

Babies sharing their birthday with the royal baby received a special teddy on bank holiday Monday (6 May) thanks to Build-A-Bear.

The beloved children’s brand donated 100 teddy bears to Royal Surrey County Hospital Charity, to be gifted to families with babies born on the same day as the royal baby. Remaining bears will be distributed to babies born at the hospital in Guildford in the coming days.

The hospital is one of ten that received a donation from Build-A-Bear to mark this special occasion; 1,000 teddy bears total have been donated to royal hospitals across the UK, chosen for their highly-commended maternity facilities. Royal Surrey County Hospital’s maternity service received an ‘Outstanding’ rating by the Care Quality Commission following its inspection last year.

Analiese Doctrove, head of fundraising at Royal Surrey County Hospital Charity, said:

“For our maternity team, every birth at Royal Surrey is special and the teddies are a fantastic way to mark this significant occasion and a lovely surprise for new parents. We’re very grateful to Build-A-Bear for its generous donation.”

All teddy bears will include a commemorative tag as well as a special birth certificate marking their noble nature and their ‘birth’ alongside their new owner’s birthday.

Roger Parry, senior managing director for Build-A-Bear Workshop in Europe, said: “We love birthdays at Build-A-Bear, and we know the anticipation of a royal baby causes a wave of excitement worldwide. We wanted to share the excitement with parents of new babies all over the UK by giving them special bear hugs to commemorate such a special day.”

If your workplace would like to support the charity, please get in touch.