Knitted World Cup shirts wanted for teddy bears

People from around the world have started to knit small football shirts for a teddy bear shop display to mark the upcoming Fifa World Cup.

Two years ago, Stuart Race, 50, from The Woolpatch yarn shop in Long Melford, Suffolk, had knitters far and wide create 67 hens to mark the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Nicknamed the Olympi'hens, crafters across the globe took part and raised £700 for The Nest charity based in Framlingham.

With football's biggest tournament coming up in June, the shop owner, originally from Norwich, knew he wanted to do something again and with the help of his crafting community, came up with making football shirts.

Initially, Race and his knitters considered making tea cosies, but quickly realised they would need to find a lot of teapots to fill the shop window.

Someone then suggested doing a simple football kit for a teddy bear, which was later simplified to just the shirt.

"Everyone loves football, and it's our nation's sport...you can't ignore it, so just embrace it," Race said.

"So I thought, let's do the World Cup, let's get behind it and as always, try and get behind England too."

Knitters can personalise the shirts as they wish, and Race has already received 42 shirts, with some coming from Germany and the US.

"We've been overwhelmed with it; it's been wonderful to see nations coming in, and then some people have put famous footballers' names on the back," he continued.

"Or some people have done their own little story, and they've put a name that means something to them... so it's been really nice seeing them come through the post over the last couple of weeks."

Race plans to make his display on 6 June, before the tournament starts on 11 June, with the teddies arranged to resemble a football match.

One knitter has even crafted a referee's outfit, complete with knitted red and yellow cards that Race described as "adorable".

The shop owner hopes to auction the shirts to raise money for The Nest once again.

"It's a nice thing to do, especially when people have given up their time to knit this, that it just doesn't end here," he added.

"If something out of their knitting, that they did for fun, actually has an even bigger impact to the local charity, it would be amazing."

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