CONCORD’S MASCOT BEARSNAME WITH PRIDE

The name is Burnell and Burnell has been given the title of ambassador.Heisthe mascot teddy bear at Shropshire’s Concord College and within days of arriving in the main hall has become a centrepiece for students and staff alike.

This is no ordinary teddy bear –Burnell’s massive. Forthe bear weighs approximately 70kg and its height in a sitting position is 150cm. Burnell is the biggest teddy bear that Merrythought has handmade during their 92-year history in theWorld Heritage Site of Ironbridge where the company spans four generations of soft toy manufacturing

Burnell’s owners Concord College were involved in the bear’s design as well selecting thefabrics which feature alight gold outer plush. The bear has chestnut brown cotton velvet paws with the college logo neatly embroidered on the right paw.

Merrythought’s current Managing Director Sarah Holmes said that thesize of Burnell, who took ateam of skilled operators four days to manufacture, presented them with quite a‘technical engineering challenge’.

ForBurnell couldn’t be made the same way as one of their traditional teddy bears.

“The cut pieces of fabric had to be reinforced with two different types of backing material and two people spent a whole day stuffing the bear by hand due to Burnell being too largefor our stuffing machine.

“The bear has been filled with recycled fibre and the main material is light gold mohair plush which is anatural material. The bear was built around a metal frame due to the weight of its limbs.

“The team at Merrythought has thoroughly enjoyed collaborating and working closely with Concord on this very special one-off teddy bear,” said Sarah.

Concord marketing team member Suzanne Trusssaid the college was ‘delighted’ to have engaged with Merrythought in the production of the bear,having employees with links to the manufacturer

“Merrythought, like Concord, is a well-established brand name which is deep rooted in Shropshire, but known throughout the world.

“Wewanted to collaborate with alocal business and it’s been marvellous of the company to help us with the bear who was named after students and staff got together to discuss.

“There was alovely selection of ideas that captured the bear’s role in the Concord community and the principal chose Burnell after thevillage of Acton Burnell which is hometothe college.”

Suzanne added: “The bear has become instantly popular with students and staff alike.”

The Merrythought team is currently busy hand-making avariety of their traditional and collectable teddy bears in time for Christmas, alongside planning ahead for abusy 2023.

Akey focus will be their King’s Coronation Teddy Bear,since the company is known around the world for creating premium commemorative royal bears.

They recently launched the HM Queen Elizabeth II Celebration Bear which is available to pre-order now from www.merrythought.com