Bear miles: Two Irish teddies set for Dublin end as they fly around the world for charity

Two teddy bears who have put in the past couple of months traversing the world for charity courtesy of airline crews are established to go to an aviation fundraiser in Dublin at the conclude of the thirty day period.

So much, the bears have been pictured with pilots and stewards in cockpits, on aeroplane wings and even sitting down in an motor in sites as considerably apart as Seattle in the United States, Johannesburg in South Africa and Perth, Western Australia – and not forgetting Ibiza in the Balearics, Tel Aviv in Israel and Helsinki in Finland, amid other areas.

The bears’ travels are all aspect of the Aviation Eire Problem, a fundraiser made to increase cash for the children’s hospice LauraLynn and the animal charity Puppies Believe in. The fundraiser is the brainchild of the teddy bears’ ‘carer’, Jason Phelan, a flight operations administrator with the Irish Aviation Authority.

In combination of fantasy and ‘borrowing’ from true existence, Mr Phelan made Capt Paddy T Bear – who he says is an ex-Irish Air Corp pilot – and his sidekick Fortunate, centered on a dog rescued around the Royal Canal in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, in 2014.

Since January this yr Capt Paddy has been bringing Fortunate on a calendar year-extensive journey – the Aviation Eire Obstacle – with the target of going to as several areas as probable and boosting cash along the way. All dollars raised by the two bears by way of their promotional occasions is getting divided by the children’s hospice LauraLynn and Canines Have faith in.

“I imagined this up on December 28th final 12 months – men and women have applied bears to elevate funds for charity in the past and I considered it would be a excellent notion to use them to elevate income for Laura Lynn and Puppies Rely on Ireland, two fantastic charities”, Mr Phelan instructed The Irish Instances.

However, he said he was astonished at the pace at which the bears’ fame has spread and the enthusiasm demonstrated for the concept by the airline community. The bears are now sponsored by Irish aircraft-leasing firm ASL Airlines, and pilots and crew around the globe are receiving photographs taken with them.

On August thirty first, the teddy bears will attend a fundraiser entitled Gals in Aviation at the Carlton Lodge Dublin Airport.

The celebration will see previous Dublin GAA supervisor Jim Gavin – who retains a professional pilot’s licence – be a part of speakers Laura Russell – an aerobatic pilot and first officer with Aer Lingus – and Lorraine Gibney – a cabin basic safety inspector, to discuss ladies in the aviation sector.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/captpaddytbear

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sidekicklucky

Tim O’Brien

Tim O’Brien is an Irish Moments journalist