Backlash by Marnie Riches: pub Trapese. pb £8.99 ebook and audio

I am blessed with great neighbours, but this is not the situation for some others.

PI Beverley Saunders goes undercover, eager to make the most of her chance. She disguises herself as a cleaner to get within investigative distance of a really BAD lad, Anthony whose neighbours have their concerns. Can Beverley find out what is actually going on?

Tension, danger: can our ‘cleaner’ find out the truth about Anthony, with her sidekick, Doc’s, help and avoid being killed off?

A page turner, witty with a cracking pace. What’s not to like.

A Death in Medina by James von Leyden. Pub Constable. pb/ebook.

One of my favourite publishers takes us via James von Leyden to Marrakech at the start of Ramadan. It’s too hot to handle, literally, for many, including the locals. Karim Belkacem is a young detective at the commissariat, who is finding the  Ramadan  fast hard to cope with, not least because he is working himself to a frazzle, doing two jobs to pay for her sister’s wedding. To top it all, an English girl comes to him for help, whilst at the same time a Moroccan girl is found dead. This is the start of Karim’s journey into a world of predators, and secrets that lurk behind the  high walls of the medina.

An intriguing glimpse of skullduggery  in the medina of Marrakech. As we can’t travel during lockdown, take a trip to Marrrakech. It’ll be worth your while.

The Girl with the Amber Comb by Linda Finlay  pub HQ. pb eBook and audio.

Not as far as Marrakech but Somerset still has promise. It’s where I lived for years, and I found this novel evocative.

Orphaned at birth, Eliza and her grandparents live in a cottage surrounded by willow beds where she makes laundry baskets and eel traps. Then along comes Clem. Uh oh,

Clem unsettles Eliza as he tells her of his adventures along the river, and disturbs her equanimity.  Surely the grass is greener?

Then, wealthy Theo tempts her further, with the vision of a life beyond the cottage. Oh, bad mistake.

Eliza finds the dream is far from perfect, and in order to escape the horror, she runs away, but will she find her way home, and into the arms of those who really love her?

I have no intention of telling you. Give it a go…

Lockdown is not the end of the world – what would be however,  is breaking it. This would  risk not just you, but everyone with whom you come into contact.

So, how to manage in a world where the culture is to nip out if something is needed, eat out, eat takeaways, do as we wish? Where families are often far flung – and contact is by telephone or IT.

What we have to do  is depend on community; you know; that all too often long ago reality where we knew our neighbours, and shopkeepers – and everyone cared for everyone else.

But will neighbours step up to the plate? Will the community? What about the shopkeepers? Does the plate, and community even exist?

In Thirsk , a small market town, people haven’t just stepped up to the plate. They have stayed and built on it, and asked of themselves as much as their hearts  and energy could give – and then some more.

Neighbours, those young enough to be  allowed to shop, collect lists from the rest of us. They return with arms down to the floor.  Books are loaned, texts of advice and support  exchanged. Cakes, and even homemade pate are left on doorsteps, or a bottle of wine.  One of our neighbour’s knocks and leaves Magnums, chocolate covered icecream lollies for the uninitiated, and ruinous to the diet, and which, sorry but… I consider an essential.   The WI, the U3a groups continue to function in a variety of ways.

The local shops have excelled, and here I mention only those we have used. But there are others.  The wonderful community conscious shops and cafes I feature have, with great entrepreneurial  gusto turned themselves around overnight, setting up delivery services, determined that those in the community should continue to be served, and their small businesses should  survive.

The Greengrocer  at 93 Market Place Thirsk YO7 1EY is exhibiting no, not virus symptoms, but this amazing entrepreneurial spirit has responded to demand, and  the team  put together boxes for delivery, (£15 and £25) Extraordinarily fresh, I repeat fresh vegetables, fruit and eggs. Phone them, 01845 527899.

If you do not want certain vegetables or fruit, talk to them. They are always happy to help. In common with other local outlets in Thirsk, the team at The Greengrocer is working its socks off, and let’s hope this side of the business stays as thriving as it is now. I have to say, that the shop is  such a picture on the Market Square, with the fruit and vegetables displayed, and the PLANTS.

Just round the corner from the Market Place, at 1 Kirkgate, Thirsk, North Yorkshire YO7 1PQ.  01845 523212 / 07973 117354 is Johnson’s the butcher. But not just a butcher – they are so much more.  They offer an extensive  range of local meats, plain or prepared; eg Beef Stroganoff for you to cook. There are pies, game, smoked fish and ready meals, and a delicatessen.

Ever versatile  and quick to respond to changing circumstances, there is now a lockdown steak night pack with 2 sirloin steaks, 2 mushroom bakes, garlic roasting potatoes and a sauce, all this for only £16.  The speed at which the owners turned around the shop, to cater for those who couldn’t leave their homes is a testament to their determination to rise to the challenge of a community in need. As with The Greengrocer, they now have a successful and ever growing delivery arm, which serves not just Thirsk but surrounding villages. I reckon a fair bit of exhaustion runs alongside, as with all these businesses taking up position on the plate.  www.Johnsonsofthirsk.co.uk

I mentioned cafes. Well, here is Bliss cafe and Patisserie.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bliss-Cafe-Thirsk/     email. blisscafe@mail.com

Bliss  Cafe welcomes dogs, ours adore Jacqui, and it’s not just because of the slices of sausage they are both given on arrival. We, the grownups. don’t have slices of sausage, but we do have coffee and cake. Or breakfast, or lunch… Yet, again, at the start of lockdown,  Jacqui and her daughters turned the business around overnight and now deliver cooled, or frozen ready meals, cooked by their own fair hands. (In addition they do take-away: 9 am to 1 pm.)

Our particular favourites are Fish Pie and Beef Lasagne.  Even the dogs get a treat when the meals are left on the doorstep: a bag of sausage slices. Jacqui explained that she worried about her regulars, and wanted to make sure they were fed, so the prices are ridiculously reasonable and they leave the meals on the doorstep, and that way she can stop worrying about us.

This, guys,  is what community is all about. But these small businesses  are not just community minded, they are also enthusiastic entrepreneurs, and are endlessly finding ways to thrive in a small market town. In this way, they continue  in a positive onward sense, and, so does the community.  In Thirsk, there is a buzz, a hope, an energy.

But I’m not done yet.

The Community Works is the result of a coming together of  The Clock and Thirsk Community Care. These two charities have merged their staff, resources and services  and through Community Works they offer practical  help at all times. But during lockdown they are particularly invaluable, as they are able to offer prescription collection, and shopping for the vibrant independent, hilarious and doughty people of the area. We’ve used them, they’re fabulous. 01845 524494

I am now going to sneak another in, the Port of Lancaster Smokehouse. This was recommended to me by people from around the country,  including London and Morecombe.  So I had to try it. The fish arrived within 48 hours. Today we had salmon and cod, and we tasted the sea. We really did. Try them, I beg you. www.Lancastersmokehouse.co.uk or 01524 751493

The first of HighTide’s Love In The Time of Corona monologues available TONIGHT from 5pm.

From 5pm tonight you’ll be able to watch Jade Anouka (Last Christmas) perform Aisha Zia’s (No Guts No Heart No Glory) monologue and Katie Lyons (Manhunt) present Olivier Award nominee Morgan Lloyd Malcom’s work.

These two monologues form part of HighTide’s Love In The Time of Corona which will be available free of charge on HighTide’s YouTube and Facebook channels. Filmed and edited through support from HighTide’s sponsor Lansons, one of the world’s leading reputation management companies, these monologues will be available for four weeks from release. Zia’s piece explores the chaos of modern urban life and the feeling of apocalypse which loomed even before the pandemic, while Morgan Lloyd Malcolm looks at being a new mum trapped at home with children, and how anyone can be enough at a time like this. Three more monologues will be shared in the coming month; Sophie Melville (Bang) will take on Ben Weatherill’s (Jellyfish) piece which explores intergenerational relationships and reaching out with love to older relatives who are alone at this time.

BAFTA nominee Dawn King’s monologue about living a social media life along with a real one, will be presented by Shobna Gulati (Coronation Street). The spoken word artist Debris Stevenson (Poet In Da Corner) will perform her own piece. All five of the writers of Love In The Time of Corona are currently developing full-length plays for Suba Das’s inaugural HighTide Festival in 2021.

The Love In The Time of Corona monologues are created as part of HighTide’s Lighthouse Programme of free, brand new projects and support for artists, audiences and communities, specifically created to bring light in the weeks ahead.

The scripts will be available royalty free for actors and directors to make their own digital versions to be showcased on HighTide’s social media channels. Morgan Lloyd Malcolm comments, It’s been lovely to be a part of HighTide’s Lighthouse Programme.

In a time where many of us are unsure about what the future holds, to be able to write and send some words out into the world has felt like a lifeline. It’s been hard to create amongst the panic of what’s going on but sitting quietly for a few hours and thinking about making a small piece of work for a brilliant actor has been a proper privilege and treat. I hope what we’ve all made gives people a few moments of respite and joy.

Twitter @_HighTide_ Instagram @HighTideTheatre Website www.hightide.org.uk Donations www.hightide.org.uk/support-us/ Watch here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzbIipkB8nJXo4nKNv95V1w https://www.facebook.com/HighTideTheatre/

Image courtesy of Rebecca Need-Menear

It’s often said that laughter is the best medicine and, Hoopla, the UK’s first improv theatre, are injecting comedy into the current crisis with online improv classes for those on lockdown. Following the cancellation of their normal workshops and the delay to their annual improv festival, the company have created online drop-in sessions, bringing improvisation to your livingroom-turned-home-office.

Packed with 100s of improv games from their regular courses, as well as interactive scenes, the focus is on having fun and letting yourself go in this troubled time – surviving lockdown through improv. Hoopla was founded with the idea of bringing people together through improv and, at a time of social distancing, it’s more important than ever to maintain interaction and stay connected for your mental health. A real confidence-boosting experience, Hoopla aims to stretch your mind as well as your perspective.

Improv classes are one of the fastest growing hobbies sweeping the UK. Starting as a weekly workshop above a pub in Balham, Hoopla are now the UK’s biggest improv school and usually run multiple courses every night of the week in venues across Central London as well as regularly running corporate workshops to clients including Google, Facebook, and Accenture. Steve Roe, Director of Hoopla, comments, Entertainment before TV was communal with music halls, dance halls and my Grandad on pub piano. I previously thought of video calls as just for super awkward job interviews, but with some experiments we found we could have loads of fun with it. People can play different characters, students can create costumes using whatever they have in their house, props can be gathered from the kitchen.

Image courtesy of Unai Garcia

It’s meant that people from around the world can join us. There are a lot of people sat at home with nobody to talk to, and improv is giving people the chance to come together (virtually) and play and have a laugh for a couple of hours. We are even going to have a virtual songs around the piano night like my Grandad.

This is also happening across the wider improv UK scene, with The Maydays and The Nursery also working together to provide online classes. Liz Peters, of The Nursery and The Maydays, added, We are improvisers. We adapt and grow and fail and learn and build. And we spread joy. So this is just one way we will ‘Yes and’ this situation. As the world begins to isolate, the need for human connection is greater than ever! They’re calling it ‘social distancing’ right now.

Let’s change that terminology to ‘physical distancing’. We are and always will be social animals; connection is part of our survival and last night proved that it is still very possible and still very fun. So come and join the ride.

Drop-in dates Monday – Friday, 7 – 9pm Saturday & Sunday, 2 – 4pm Price: £10

Age Recommendation 18+

Location Online using Zoom. All details for login for Zoom will be emailed to participants on the day of the workshop

Social Media @HooplaImpro, #hooplaimpro Website www.hooplaImpro.com

13 March – 14 June 2020

The Enchanted Interior, the major new exhibition at Guildhall Art Gallery, has unfortunately had to close its doors to the public due to the current health crisis. This powerful exhibition will instead be available to enjoy online with exclusive virtual tours of the exhibition led by the curator, Katherine Pearce.

Turning the historic depiction of women on its head, this empowering show sees artworks by Pre-Raphaelites placed alongside modern and contemporary works by female artists including Martha Rosler, Maisie Broadhead and Fiona Tan.

Through these videos, visitors can now engage with these mesmerising and exciting artworks remotely, enabling online visitors to challenge the idealisation of women as passive beauties, exploring female empowerment and reclaiming female identity. You can access the virtual tour here: cityoflondon.gov.uk/enchanted. along with images of the exhibition here:

The Enchanted Interior explores the recurring motif of female subjects in art, as depicted in enclosed, ornate interiors. Such images are inherently alluring yet sinister, carrying implications of enforced isolation. This theme is prevalent in nineteenth-century British painting, with many Pre-Raphaelites and Orientalists showing a fascination with the so-called ‘gilded cage’. Visitors encounter work by a breath-taking variety of artists from the high Victorian through to Art Nouveau, Aestheticism, Surrealism, and pieces by contemporary female artists, who ‘speak back’ to the historic tradition.

The exhibition features works by artists including Edward Burne-Jones, Evelyn De Morgan, James Abbot McNeill Whistler, Emma Sandys, Francesca Woodman, Fiona Tan, John William Waterhouse and Clementina Hawarden.

The Enchanted Interior is brought to Guildhall Art Gallery in partnership with Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, and features key works from these and other national collections. Paintings, furniture, photography, film, decorative objects, sculpture, and installation interweave throughout this major exhibition, which is dazzling to the eye and thought-provoking in equal measure.

Images courtesy of Paul Clarke Photography

cityoflondon.gov.uk/enchanted.

BROADCASTING ON WEDNESDAYS 20^TH MAY AND 27^TH MAY

 Produced by the Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield:

THE UNDERSTUDY

By Henry Filloux-Bennett, based on the best-selling novel by David Nicholls

STARRING

Stephen Fry, Mina Anwar, Layton Williams, Emily Atack, Russell Tovey, Sheila Atim MBE, Sarah Hadland & more

The Understudy is a brand new radio play that will be broadcast in two parts on Wednesday 20^th May and Wednesday 27^th May to raise funds for the theatre industry which is facing a devastating impact from the Covid-19 health crisis. The Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield will split proceeds of this project with charities including the Theatre Development Trust (SOLT and UK Theatre), Acting for Others and Equity Charitable Trust.

Coming together at a time that matters the most, the stellar line-up of actors currently confirmed to perform in The Understudy includes Stephen Fry, Emily Atack, Sheila Atim, Layton Williams, Russell Tovey, Sarah Hadland, Mina Anwar and many more. The cast and creative team involved in The Understudy will take part completely in isolation and actors will record their lines at home that will be brought to life by an exceptional sound design team.

 The public will be able to tune in to listen to The Understudy by buying a ticket, all of which will go to help individuals and organisations struggling because of Coronavirus.

Based on the novel by the best-selling author David Nicholls, The Understudy tells the story of an underdog – a failed husband, a failing father, a failing actor, and the impossible choice he’s going to have to make between stealing the show and stealing another man’s wife. Directed by Giles Croft, this is a stage adaptation written by Henry Filloux-Bennett that was originally commissioned by The Lowry. The sound, music and effects will be brought to life by Alexandra Faye Braithwaite, Annie May Fletcher and Sophie Galpin.

Commenting on this timely project, Stephen Fry said: “I am just so delighted to be working on Henry Filloux-Bennett’s superb adaptation of David Nicholls’s The Understudy. I do hope lots of you will listen in and combine a good time with support for our wonderful theatre industry.”

David Nicholls comments: “I’ve always had soft spot for The Understudy and was hugely excited to see it come to life on a new online stage, and with such a great team. So much is changing, at such speed and I’m full of admiration for the way it’s now being reimagined. I can’t wait.”

A spokesperson for SOLT and UK Theatre said: “We welcome this initiative and are delighted that money raised will be donated to support theatres across the country – particularly outside London where the industry needs it most. It has never been more vital that our industry pulls together, and it is fantastic to see artists and performers using creativity and ingenuity to help support the theatre workforce through this difficult time.”

Synopsis

Actor Stephen McQueen has just landed a dream West End role. Well, that’s not quite true – he’s going to be is understudying film star (and 12^th Sexiest Man in the World) Josh Harper in the brand-new show ‘Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know’, but still…Whilst he’s waiting for his time to shine, he reflects on his career – one that has spanned everything from (non-speaking) Rent Boy 3 in ‘The Bill’ to his recent starring role as Sammy in the (low-budget) regional tour of ‘Sammy The Squirrel’s Seriously Silly Safari’.

With this new job Stephen’s stage career may be destined for the dizzying heights, but not everything is going quite as well. Stephen’s wife left him two years ago, wondering if he’d ever grow up; his daughter wonders when he’ll get an actual job; worst of all, he’s starting to fall for the leading man’s wife.

Part 1 of The Understudy will be released on Wednesday 20^th May and Part 2 of The Understudy will be released on Wednesday 27^th May. For more information, see www.understudyplay.com

Title                                   The Understudy

Dates                                 Part 1: Wednesday 20^th May 2020

Part 2: Wednesday 27^th May 2020

Website                            www.understudyplay.com

Social Media                    @theLBT, @ActingForOthers,

Writer                               Henry Filloux-Bennett

Director                            Giles Croft

Sound and Music            Alexandra Faye Braithwaite with Annie May Fletcher and Sophie Galpin

Produced by                     Lawrence Batley Theatre with support from Anthology Theatre

Cast:  Stephen Fry,Russell Tovey  Emily Atack,,Sheila Atim, Layton Williams, Sarah Hadland, Mina Anwar

Jake Ferretti, Sasha Frost, Marie Lawrence, James McNicholas,  Lizzie Muncey

HighTide reveals further details on the industry leading response to the crisis and announces stellar cast for Love In The Time of Corona

The cast for the five monologues written for Love In The Time of Corona, as part of HighTide’s Lighthouse Programme, have now been released. Aisha Zia’s (No Guts No Heart No Glory, UK tour, BBC 4, Fringe First Award winner) piece will be performed by Jade Anouka (Last Christmas) while Katie Lyons (Manhunt, ITV) takes on Olivier Award nominee Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s work in the first of the monologues to be released on Thursday 9 th April.

Sophie Melville (Bang, S4C) will share Ben Weatherill’s (Jellyfish, Bush Theatre and National Theatre, now in development with BBC) piece, BAFTA nominee Dawn King’s will be presented by Shobna Gulati (Coronation Street, ITV) and spoken word artist Debris Stevenson (Poet In Da Corner, Royal Court and UK tour, Evening Standard Best Newcomer nominee) will perform her own monologue.

All five of the writers of Love In The Time of Corona are currently developing full-length plays for Suba Das’s inaugural HighTide Festival in 2021.

Filmed and edited through support from HighTide’s sponsor Lansons, one of the world’s leading reputation management companies, the first of these digital productions created by HighTide will be available for free from next week on their channels.

The scripts will also be available royalty free for actors and directors to make their own digital versions and will be showcased on HighTide’s social media channels. HighTide’s Lighthouse Programme consists of free, brand new projects and programmes for artists, audiences and communities, specifically created to bring light in the weeks ahead.

HighTide are the first NPO to launch such a comprehensive programme of support for the sector, offering a range of programmes to help artists. These strands reflect the values that sit at the heart of HighTide: to introduce audiences to new work that speaks to the times we live in by the most exciting and diverse writers in the UK; to support emerging writers on their journey; and to engage communities in their home region in Suffolk.

Artistic Director of HighTide, Suba Das comments, Over 200 individual artists and companies have engaged with our Lighthouse Programme since we raced to create this new support programme the week that the theatre’s began to close; and our supporters have already donated £16,000 to these efforts, totally smashing all of our expectations. That tells us plainly that what we’re doing matters. It’s a strange and distressing time, but we’re so heartened that we’re helping provide a sense of focus and community. It’s an honour to have world class writing talents like Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and Ben Weatherill; and actors such as Jade Anouka and Katie Lyons supporting our efforts. It’s equally important that we’re reaching and supporting an emerging generation who risk losing the opportunity to fully develop their talent with the shutdown in place.

So whether that’s with Dawn King’s livestreamed playwriting classes; or our Cancellation Catalogue through which we hope to rescue some shows that will no longer go to Edinburgh; or the online participatory work we’ll be doing with the Suffolk Young People’s Health Project; we hope that isolation doesn’t also mean silence. The Lighthouse Programme also includes: For writers from the East of England and/or from a socio-economically deprived background, Write That Play is a new programme to help new and emerging writers learn about playwriting craft and work towards completing a first draft of a new play. HighTide writer and BAFTAnominated Dawn King will lead a live-streamed weekly workshop over ten weeks taking the group through playwriting exercises and tasks. At the end of the course, their completed draft can be submitted for notes.

Applications for this exciting opportunity close on Tuesday. Playwright Crisis Support Programme will see HighTide’s incredible alumni, including Luke Barnes, Kenny Emson, Anders Lustgarten, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, Vinay Patel and Nick Payne, adopt an emerging writer. Over twelve weeks, the small group of writers will be looked after by the HighTide team and an alumni. The focus is artist wellbeing during this period of crisis and individuals goals will be set with each playwright; these could range from completing a new draft, facilitating for a writer to hear their work out loud, navigating the financial support available to freelance artists. Preference will be given to applicants from the East of England and/or from a socio-economically deprived background and applications close on Wednesday.

To further support playwrights moving forward with their practice, HighTide’s newly appointed Associate Artists, Aisha Zia, Chinonyerem Odimba, Chris Sonnex and The Queer House, have committed to regularly reading and feeding back on scripts. The Script Reading Service is open to all UK playwrights during submission windows, however priority will be given to writers who are based in the East of England and/or are from socio-economically deprived backgrounds. A hundred scripts were received in the first submission window last week, further windows will be announced in late April and June. HighTide’s Cancellation Catalogue is for premiere runs of British new writing that were cancelled due to Corvid-19. Giving shows new life where opportunity was ripped away by circumstance, the pieces will be placed on a priority list for programming in the next HighTide Festival in Spring/Summer 2021.

In partnership with the Suffolk Young People’s Health Project (4YP) and Company Three’s groundbreaking Coronavirus Time Capsule programme, HighTide will create an online youth theatre space for some of the most vulnerable and isolated young people in the East of England. With sessions and content delivered by some of the UK’s most exciting theatremakers, and linking up similar youth projects all over the world, Let’s Create seeks to widen participants’ horizons, even during a time of lockdown. Throughout the crisis and in partnership with Nick Hern Books, HighTide will share a regular programme of simple playwriting tasks and exercises created by great playwrights past and present to help keep boredom at bay. The traditional period of a quarantine was 40 days so HighTide will be sharing 40 simple standalone playwriting tasks across their social channels with 40 Plays / 40 Nights. They invite all writers with a wi-fi connection to share their responses for feedback, discussion and celebration.

Twitter @_HighTide_ Instagram @HighTideTheatre Website www.hightide.org.uk

Donations www.hightide.org.uk/support-us/ Write That Play Apply: https://hightide.org.uk/lighthouse-programme/write-that-playplaywriting-programme/.

Deadline: Tuesday 7th April, 10am Playwright Crisis Support Programme Apply: https://hightide.org.uk/lighthouse-programme/playwright-crisissupport-programme/ Deadline: Wednesday 8th April, 10am Cancellation Catalogue Submission: https://hightide.org.uk/lighthouse-programme/cancellation-catalogue/HighTide

HighTide is a theatre company and charity based in East Anglia that has an unparalleled twelveyear history of successfully launching the careers of emerging British playwrights. Their alumni include: Luke Barnes, Adam Brace, E V Crowe, Elinor Cook, Rob Drummond, Thomas Eccleshare, Theresa Ikoko, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Anders Lustgarten, Joel Horwood, Ella Hickson, Harry Melling, Nessah Muthy, Vinay Patel, Nick Payne, Phil Porter, Beth Steel, Al Smith, Sam Steiner, Molly Taylor, Jack Thorne and Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig. They have staged productions with the highest quality theatres across the UK, from the Traverse in Edinburgh, to the Royal Exchange in Manchester, Theatre Royal Bath and the National Theatre in London. They discover new talent, provide creative development opportunities for playwrights and other creatives, and stage high quality theatre productions both in their region and nationally through their festivals and touring. They enable new and underrepresented playwrights to express their visions of contemporary politics and society, demonstrate their creative potential and therein showcase the future of theatre.

Britain’s oldest remaining teddy bear manufacturer is supporting the NHS and the coronavirus fighting fund thanks to a special souvenir bear and his cuddly companions. 

Bevan the Bear, originally created to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the NHS, is making a comeback and will be joined by a selection of Merrythought’s traditional, British-made teddy bears to raise funds for the NHS Charities Covid-19 Appeal and SATH, the company’s local Hospital Trust in Shropshire

The ‘Blue Ribbon’ campaign collection also includes Merrythought’s best-selling London Curly Gold bear, together with  Oxford, Traditional Cheeky and of course Bevan – named after founder of the NHS,Aneurin Bevan. Paying tribute to the NHS frontline heroes, Merrythought has chosen only teddy bears that wear a blue ribbon, with a minimum of 20% of all online sales to be donated to the charities.

“While a Merrythought teddy bear is the ideal companion to get you through challenging times such as these, choosing a special bear for either yourself or a loved one will now also help the NHS and those affected by Covid-19,” said fourth-generation managing director of Merrythought Sarah Holmes.

“Bevan is a particularly special bear for us and we were very proud of our collaboration with Shrewsbuy and Telford Hospital Trust, our local NHS Trust. We now want to build on this to help  the wider NHS as it faces such an unprecedented crisis.

Merrythought, which marks its 90th anniversary this year, is famous for crafting the finest, British-madeteddy bears, which are adored by children and adults across the world.

“We appreciate the difficulties that families and the NHS are facing at the moment, and are keen to see the Merrythought teddy bear giving some financial and emotional support to those affected by Covid-19. Merrythought is very much a business which has been at the heart of the community for the last nine decades, and we hope to continue to be so for generations to come.”

While the Merrythought Shop in Ironbridge has had to close in line with current Government restrictions, orders can still be placed online.

“We are proud that our teddy bears are British made, and we appreciate all the efforts across the community to support British businesses as we all try our best to get through this crisis together.” 

Bevan is on sale for £89, and is available alongside the rest of the Blue Ribbon Collection at www.merrythought.co.uk.