Where have all the Addington Bears gone?
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Addington Fund supporting the UK farming community we are on a mission to rehome 15 limited edition Merrythought teddy bears. Our special ‘Addington Fund Bears’ were introduced at the start of the year to mark 25 years since the devastating outbreak of foot and mouth disease, where the charity was set up to support farmers and farm workers affected by the crisis.
So far 6 out of the 15 bears have been adopted by new owners and have moved into their new homes across the UK and Ireland. All these bears have gone to individuals who have pledged a special interest in them or have played a vital part in the Addington Fund story over the last 25 year.
The first bear, Terry went to Tom Fabozzi who was lucky enough to win him at a raffle held during a dinner at the NFU Conference back in February this year. Terry, who was named after honour of Terry Jones, Director General of the NFU, is now being lovingly look after by Tom’s daughter, Siún in Dublin.
The second bear was gifted to Addington Fund’s Fund Director Sue English for 25 years loyal and dedicated service to the charity. Sue has remained on the front line since the beginning in 2001 during the foot and mouth outback until today, where she still picks up the phones and listens to farmers in need of support. Sue, who is a lover of creatures big and small named her bear after her much loved horse Beanie as a way of remembering her.
Our third bear, Peter, named after the charity’s late Chairman and vet Peter Jinman, was given to long term supporter of Addington Fund Lord Curry of Kirkharle at our 25th anniversary celebration at The House of Lords. Peter now spends his days keeping Lord Curry company at his farm in Northumberland after his retirement from the House of Lords.
At our 2026 Devon Farm Business Awards we managed to find our 4th bear, Louise, a special home in Devon. Louise was named by the principal sponsor of the awards Cornish Mutual, after the daughter of our patron and visitor of the Devon County Show, HRH the Duchess of Edinburgh.
Our latest bear to be rehomed is Denzil who was won by Claire Worden in our Spring raffle. Claire and her family, who lives in Lostwithiel in Cornwall carefully choose the name Denzil for our 6th Addington Fund Bear because of it’s traditional Cornish roots.
And then of course there is Gerry, the original bear. Named after Richard ‘Gerald’ Addington who alongside Sally Fogden helped to start the charity 25 years ago. Gerry, is currently on tour with the Addington Fund team, where he is meeting and greeting his many fans as he travels the length of the UK at as many rural and agricultural events as he can. So, if you are out and about this summer, make sure you say hello, take a selfie and share it with us on social media, tagging us with '#AddingtonFundBear.
We are now on the hunt to find our 7th bear a new home. So if you would like to be the lucky own of your very own Addington Fund Commemorative Bear, make sure you get your paws on one of our raffle tickets in our current draw. To buy a ticket and for your chance to win click here.
Full terms and conditions relating to the Addington Bear Raffle. Entries close on 31st August at 11:59am The winner will be drawn on 1 September 2026.