Christchurch woman launches The Teddy Project to gift toy bears to refugee children

A Christchurch woman has launched a Givealittle campaign to give teddy bears to refugee children in Canterbury.

The Teddy Project organiser Sana Ditta was inspired during lockdown after seeing children excited to go on the COVID-19 bear hunt. 

"I spent a lot of time going for walks because there was nothing else to do. Just seeing so many teddy bears on the windows and seeing children in our neighbourhood just stop and pointing and getting so excited," the 23-year-old says.

"So I had a wee think about this, how could we extend it? So I thought if these children are getting so excited, imagine how former refugees would feel, and anything to make them smile."

Ditta knows how comforting they can be for kids after receiving one when her father was shot in the Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019.

Now she hopes to pass on the same love.

"When these children arrive, they've seen some horrific things and I think in New Zealand we take stuff like this a little bit for granted and I'm sure we don't read about it too much," she says.

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"But experiencing that much hardship and then seeing that we are welcome here, that there are people here that are wanting to make us smile, it can make a huge impact for children."

The migration team at Red Cross will distribute the teddy bears to children arriving in Canterbury.

Ditta says she hopes to raise at least $1000 to put towards bears.