Edward Bear goes in One Direction and it is the Right Direction

In June Edward Bear went to his first ever POP Concert as he attended Wembley Stadium to see One Direction. He had a fantastic time along with thousands of others. Edward is looking forward to his next concert but thinks that it will be difficult to beat his 3D experience of 1D.

Cyanne makes it GAME SET and MATCH at Wimbledon

Cyanne the ITP Support Association HQ Office Bear was taken to Wimbledon to watch the tennis by Rita Hobson. With great weather, fantastic tennis, and the excitement of Centre Court it was a wonderful adventure. We won`t mention the mess that was made with the strawberries and cream but with any Bear it was

always likely to get tricky and sticky with extremely active paws.

TOMMY Thrombo completes The Manchester Color Run

On Saturday July 5th Tommy Thrombo completed the Manchester Color Run at The Etihad Stadium with his carer Katie Pennington and her friends Anna, Nicola and Tasha. As can be seen from the pictures they had a wonderful time and raised about £500 (funds still being counted) for the ITP Support Association. An amazing effort and a big THANK YOU to all concerned. Tommy had never done any running before and he was worried about getting his blue fur dirty with all the paint that is liberally thrown over the competitors. Luckily Tommy managed to avoid the paint and he is lending a hand this week with washing all the kits of Katie and his other team mates.

Edward sends Greetings from Kos

We received this lovely post card from Edward holidaying in Kos who was on his first summer vacation with his new family. Edward was very much taken with the clear blue sea and glorious sunshine and he really enjoyed island hopping on the ferries.

Franki Thrombo Gets Crafting

Franki Thrombo has been very busy helping to make greetings cards with his carer and her friends. The cards will all be sold to raise funds for the ITP Support Association and Franki was so pleased to get involved with making them. Franki has also been out and about quite a bit and like most bears is eager to see new places and enjoy new experiences.

Franki Thrombo Goes to Lunch

Having joined in with a crafting session and helping to make greetings cards to be sold in aid of the ITP Support Association, Franki then joined his carer and her friends for lunch. Here the menu is being studied very closely and I am guessing that like any bear Franki was looking for anything on the menu with honey on it !

Tommy gets a Makeover

Tommy Thrombo has had a makeover in time for his Summer holidays. As we can see his carer has been busy giving him the full range of treatments. It is helpful that his carer runs her own beauty business so he is getting the very best of pampering.

Bella and The Bard

Pictured at the home of William Shakespeare in Stratford on Avon is Bella Cy with Joe Harvey who is taking good care of his ITP bear. It was a Midsummer Night`s Dream for Bella to go out and about on her first excursion over the Bank Holiday weekend.

A Visit to Warwick Castle

Out and about in this picture is Bella Cy on a visit to Warwick Castle. Her carers Paula Tompkins and family were away for the Bank Holiday weekend and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to take Bella along for her first trip.

Tommy Thrombo Goes to the Seaside

Here we have Tommy Thrombo pictured at Crosby Beach in Lancashire with his carer Katie. It is obvious that Tommy has already settled in well to his new environment and is making himself known. He was very excited to go on a trip to the seaside and was especially happy to see a kite for the first time. He wanted to join in but it was a bit windy and he might have got carried away (quite literally). Watch out for further updates from Tommy as he continues his travels.

Follow The Bear - The Great Eight or The Magnificent Seven plus One

We at the ITP Support Association are all excited to announce a new, fun initiative that we are setting up involving EIGHT ITP Bears. I hope that you don`t think we have gone mad but with the upcoming Summer months and ITP September Awareness, this is a fantastic opportunity to get the ITP message out far and wide. It will be great fun too so please do FOLLOW THE BEAR

The whole initiative was the idea of our great friend and Medical Advisor Dr Paula Bolton-Maggs and indeed she will be caring for one of the GREAT EIGHT Bears and sending us regular updates.

Our GREAT EIGHT Bears will be out and about raising awareness for ITP and the ITP Support Association, so do look out for them at various events around the UK and further afield too from now. Don`t forget to FOLLOW THE BEAR and do drop us a line or take a picture if you spot one of them on your travels.

So eight Bear Carers have been appointed and they will send me regular pictures of their Bears and you can FOLLOW THE BEAR here on their own special Blog

Pictures of the Bears in all sorts of situations are likely to come in as of course Bears by nature are adventurous, inquisitive types. They might be on holiday, at home, at work, at a famous place, with a famous person, at a fund raising event.

There will be 4 Gentleman Bears and 4 Lady Bears and they will be named THROMBO for the Gentlemen and CY for the Ladies (Thrombo and Cy were chosen as names as they form part of Thrombocytopenia so have that link to ITP). They will each be given a first name or nickname too by their carers.

So whatever you do during the Summer remember to FOLLOW THE BEAR  and always be BEAR AWARE ! One of the GREAT EIGHT maybe a lot closer to you than you think !