IF YOU'D gone down to North Weald Village Common on September 1, you might have been in for a surprise as the newly launched North Weald Mums held their first Teddy Bears' Picnic.
With adults in Teddy bear onesies and many excited children eager to tuck into a picnic, the event has been hailed a real success, raising hundreds of pounds to make improvements to the common behind the village hall, off High Road.
Treasurer Jennie Russell said: "The sun shone and lots of children had great fun decorating tasty Teddy bear biscuits, colouring in Teddy bear pictures, getting sparkly henna tattoos, making beautiful beaded jewellery and dancing with the fantastic Zumba ladies.
"All the grown-ups had the chance to buy raffle tickets to win fantastic prizes donated by generous local businesses and they could also buy scrumptious home-made cakes and biscuits, all made by our local mums.
"We also sold more of our brilliant Barley Barn 'Cooking With Kids' books.
"The highlight of the day was when our two Teddy bears arrived to tell the children exciting stories in our story corner.
"The event was an amazing success, well attended by local families, and we raised lots of money too.
"North Weald Mums is a recently formed local group aiming to raise funds to make improvements to the park on Weald Common.
"This was our first event and we raised £311.94, which is a long way from the £25,000 plus we need to raise, but it's a good start."
The 42-year-old mother of one is urging more people to join up.
She said: "The parish council are supporting us, as are local businesses. We are aiming to put on many more events and our planning meetings are usually held in The Kings Head pub.
"We are looking for more enthusiastic people to come and join us. We have lots more events in the pipeline including a Hallowe'en Party, Cockney Night and Afternoon Tea event, and we are also open to suggestions."
If you would like to get involved, e-mail NWM@gmail.com or follow them on Facebook at North Weald Mums and Twitter at @NWmums.
