Cuddly comfort to be shared

Getting among cute teddy bears is all about serving the community for Invercargill Police officers and Whitcoulls Invercargill staff Roz Waldron (second from right) and Gail Mackintosh (front right) last Thursday.

Looking forward to giving away teddy bears to tamariki are Invercargill police staff (from left) Tony McGoldrick, senior constable Simon Ballantyne, Emma Lennon, Jony Bode (far right) and T Horler (front left).

A total of 292 teddy bears were donated by Whitcoulls customers throughout the year.

Whitcoulls Invercargill manager Roz Waldron said 130 teddy bears were donated to the Invercargill Police so the cuddly toys could be given to young families in need.

"The New Zealand Police take these out to accident sites and hand them out to children which makes this a really worthy cause," Ms Waldron said.

Earlier, 162 teddy bears were dropped off at Southland Hospital for the children in its care.