Page 17 - Blaze Bear

Out of the Ashes

In 1995, a creative artist and soft toy maker
Sue Quinn was trading as Dormouse Designs
Sue was invited to attend an event of
Peter Fagan’s Colour Box Ltd at the Spalding Festival.

Sue went there to display some of her teddy bears and other soft toys that
she’d made & that were available for ‘adoption’. One such bear was called
Bennington Bear

In a damaging house fire one week before the festival Peter Fagan’s
daughter Lucy (7) had her 300-strong Teddy bear and dolls collection
destroyed in the blaze. The family’s vintage collection of 400 bears got
smoke damaged and needed to be expertly and swiftly restored.

A framed photo was presented to Sue by Peter Fagan to recognise her
splendid bear creations and for the forfeit of her Copyright on her bear
to Peter Fagan as a mascot for the FSNBF that trademarked him.

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The Fagan’s house fire occurred on the VE Day anniversary 8 May 1995 at
their home in Berwick upon Tweed. The fire spread from Lucy’s bedroom.
The most likely cause was an electrical fault in Lucy’s cassette tape player &
recorder. Her 300 teddy bears and dolls were lost in the fire along with her
bedroom furniture and almost all of her possessions.

Berwick’s Blue Watch managed to save the vintage bear
collection with help from the Fagan family & friends.

Northumberland Fire & Rescue Service’s ’Sparky the Bear’
was a replica of Sue Quinn’s Bennington Bear that became

A Fire Charity Mascot Bear

for
The Fire Services National Benevolent Fund Mascot
Adopted in December 1997