Bearmania has well and truly arrived in the UK, and, according to Gill and Nicky in our office there, it seems that everyone in the town of Congleton has taken the bears to their hearts. Long famous for its historical link with bears, the town just recently organised the most amazing event and proudly showed off 75 five-feet tall fibreglass bears decorated by the towns schools, businesses and services. They even included a Bear Mayor!

Nicky had given passionate presentations to several schools prior to the bear exhibition and so now of course all the students were fired up to help the caged and farmed bears in China and Vietnam. Longtime supporter and “Secret Millionaire” TV celebrity, lovely Dawn Gibbins, had been instrumental in bringing the whole town together celebrating the bear theme and encouraging donations to help the real-life bears we rescue from the farms.

Getting in on the act, was a little orange dog rescued from the earthquake in China who now resides with bear volunteer and vet nurse Judy at her home in the UK. Clearly acknowledging his growing fame, Tremor wasn’t exactly slow in positioning himself next to the Mayoral Bear for the publicity photos — much to the delight of the media who jostled to take pictures of the celeb in their midst.

Read all about this fantastic event here.

With, as ever, our heartfelt thanks to the town of Congleton and all involved for putting bears well and truly on the map, and giving some real-life bears a big dose of much-needed help.