Bear necessities? Widower is selling his late wife's beloved collection of FOUR ... trends now
A widower is selling his late wife's beloved collection of 4,000 teddy bears for £100,000 which he is giving to charity.
Les Collard, 84, and Susan 'Sue' Collard built the fluffy collection for more than 30 years and stuffed their four-bedroom home with of the vintage bears.
They spent almost every day of their retirement travelling to specialist shops, fairs and sales to buy second-hand teddies that Sue, a seamstress, would repair.
Every bear was put on display on purpose-built shelving in their house in Hereford.
Les Collard, 84, and his late wife Susan 'Sue' Collard built the fluffy collection for more than 30 years and stuffed their four-bedroom home full of the antique and vintage bears. Every bear was put on display on purpose built shelving in the house in Hereford
Each of the teddy bears was individually named and numbered by Sue and full records were cross-referenced in four files and two ledgers. She named the bears according to the locations where she acquired them
Les, who worked in management for a metal manufacturers, said Sue began collecting teddy bears after she bought him one for his 50th birthday. He said: 'We have a four bedroom house and virtually all the rooms have bears in them on shelving. You can see every bear, they are tiered like a football stadium'
Sue, who died in February aged 76, spent almost every day of her retirement travelling to specialist shops, fairs and sales to buy second-hand teddies with her husband
Each one was named and numbered by Sue and full records were cross-referenced in four files and two ledgers.
She named the bears according to the locations where she got them.
Sadly, Sue died in February aged 76.
She and Les, her husband of 58 years, had agreed the surviving spouse would sell the collection and donate proceeds to the Herefordshire Wildlife Trust.
It is so big that it is having to be split up and sold in three different sales.
Les said it has been emotional sorting through the collection, which they started building in 1994, but knows it is what his wife would have wanted.
He said: 'We had agreed years ago that we would eventually sell them and donate the proceeds to a wildlife charity provided we could afford to do so.
'I get by OK and every penny will go to charity.
Two bears, named Northwood and Huntley (pictured), that were made in Germany before the First World War, come as a pair worth £1,200 and will be auctioned off for charity
Makes of bears include Steiff, Farnell, Schuco, Chiltern and Merrythought and estimates range from just £30 to over £1,000 (pictured: two Chiltern Skaters from the 1930s with an estimate of £300 each)
Widower Les said it has been emotional sorting through the collection but knows it is what his wife would have wanted. He added: 'We had agreed years ago that we would eventually sell them and donate the proceeds to a wildlife charity provided we could afford to do so. It has been a
