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A resident of Shirley Way in Croydon has received an award from the local Mayor for outstanding community spirit and compassion shown to residents during the pandemic.
Former Royal Mail employee, Terry Turner, has raised thousands of pounds for charity with his unique bear scenes which have entertained neighbours and their families since March.
The Local Hero certificates are presented by Croydon Neighbourhood Watch, in conjunction with the Mayor of Croydon, to celebrate members of the community who have put themselves on the line to help their neighbourhood.
Terry, 63, was nominated for the award by Croydon resident, John Wainford, who told Neighbourhood Watch: “The fantastic displays of bears in this garden have been bringing a smile to young and old for many weeks.”
Terry said: “I was quite touched to receive the award, it was lovely to receive such an honour and receive the certificate.
“It’s already been framed and is on the wall in my bedroom.”
The Worshipful Mayor of Croydon, Cllr Maddie Henson said: “There have been so many people who have really shown the best of Croydon during Covid.
“We were keen that those people get the recognition they deserve as they are usually the unsung heroes during times of tragedy.
“Terry is exactly the kind of person who has gone above and beyond for our community.
“It’s not just about the people that are fighting to save lives, it’s also about those people who make everyone’s lives a little bit brighter and teddy bears are such a lovely way of doing that.”
The scenes started back in May, initially to lighten up lockdown.
Terry has now completed 66 scenes with the help of 25 local businesses who were keen to support the fundraising efforts, with three more still waiting to help.
Terry said: “People are still coming to me to ask if the bears can promote their business and enjoy a bit of fun at the same time.
“I spend a lot of time out in the front garden speaking to lots of people, I have dedicated followers that always turn up.
“The Girlguides have approached me to do a bear scene in the front garden and I recently received a lovely letter from a fan of the bears asking if they can do a Tropic Luxury Gift scene with ten per cent of their sales going to Demelza.”
Despite Terry initially starting the scenes as a bit of fun, the community insisted on donating. He decided to accept the donations and fundraise for charity, Demelza Hospice Care for Children, who care for families in Kent, East Sussex and South East London,
Katie Fielder, senior community fundraiser at Demelza said: “One of the reason’s Terry picked Demelza is that we have a ‘Friends of Shirley’ group that really supports us by fundraising and raising our profile in the area.
“One of the ladies in the group lives on Terry’s road and I think she just got chatting to him one day about it and so he chose the charity.”
Despite the charity being 93 per cent down on their events income and community fundraising being down 43 per cent, Katie said: “The pandemic is sparking people’s creativity to make a fundraiser out of nothing.
“Terry is a prime example of a fundraiser that last year potentially wouldn’t have worked, but now during lockdown, particularly in school holidays when there isn’t as much to do, there is a demand for something to entertain the children.
“I think it’s really lovely that Terry has been recognised by the community for all that he is achieving.”
“He is a genuinely honourable and lovely chap that wants to help his community as much as he possibly can.”
Some of the hospice’s services have had to be suspended, due to the pandemic, including the respite service which enables families to stay at the hospice and their child’s medical needs are taken care of by the specialist nurses.
With the help of fundraisers like Terry, the charity is able to continue services that are Covid safe.
Katie said: “One of the positives from this situation is that we have our art and music therapy which is really important to the children and their families.
“It’s a bit like a counselling service where they can express themselves through music or art, so we have taken that all online via zoom, which means we can access many more families per week than we used to be able to.”
In only six months the popularity of the bear scenes has helped Terry to raise £3,664, he said: “I would love to be able to reach £4,000 by the end of the year, but the weather may have different ideas.”
Photographs and details of Terry’s previous scenes including a shoemaker, boiler repair and massage therapy bear, can be found on the dedicated Facebook page Shirley Way Bears where you will also find the link to donate to Demelza.
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