Last month we initiated a competition to name our new Travel Bear. We sent a poster out to our families and asked all of the children to think of some ideas as to what we could call him / her!
We had lots of responses including some really clever suggestions from children and young people of all ages.
What names were suggested for Travel Bear?
- Snugga Bear
- Buzzy Bear
- Diversity
- Catboy
- Nelly, Fluffy & Traveller
- Possie
- Kailani
- Kai
- Dzfya
- Cuddles
- Columbus
- Battuta
- Pebbles
- Valentine
- Pearl
- Miles
What was Travel Bear’s chosen name?
At the start of March, Travel Bear announced his new name in a poster that was emailed to our foster families…
Hello everyone..
I’m excited to tell you that I will be travelling with you, and your family, whenever you go on holiday ..
I cannot wait to explore all the exciting places we will visit, making memories for us to share .. Oh, and let’s not forget the photo’s of us together..
I’m so looking forward to meeting you all ..
From Columbus ..
Thank you to N for suggesting a great name, I really like it and I think it suits me! 😊
Columbus was a very creative suggestion, and N was rewarded with £10 as a thank you for helping choose his name.
Why did we implement a Travel Bear?
We chose to implement Travel Bear because it gives children a better awareness of where other children come from. It’s hard to teach children about the world they live in, but this provides us with a way to explain different countries and the idea of travelling, so it’s easier for them to understand. Travel Bear will be going on holidays with our foster families, and he will be used to explain the holiday destinations of where the children have been.
We are encouraging our families to provide pictures to the agency of the places that they will visit in 2021 and beyond. After some time, we will have a collection of photos and souvenirs of all the exciting places that Columbus has been.
We also understand that as a result of COVID, the subsequent lockdowns and restrictive tier systems, all of our foster families have had to cancel holidays and the idea of time away is a distant memory to many. We have realised how important it is to stay connected and Columbus will provide us with another way to maintain connections with each other as we follow his journeys.
Until lockdown ends, Columbus is looking forward to all of the exciting locations he will visit with each family, and we are anticipating lots of snaps of him partaking in activities that they complete with him.
We already have some families that have booked holidays for 2021, so hopefully Columbus will be able to go to few different locations in his first year. He is already packed and ready to go!
In the meantime, Columbus will be home at Freedom HQ and is excited to meet you all!
Thank you to Lizzie Johnson for her input.
