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Please Vote For Your Favourite Nursery Rhyme

To celebrate 25 years of Musical Minis we have launched a campaign to find the Nation’s Favourite Nursery Rhyme. Just click here to go to the voting page and we will donate 25p to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital when you vote.

 

The Paddington Trail

When I was a child my Grandma bought me a Paddington Bear which I loved. He wasn't very cuddly as he wore a duffle coat and wellington boots but I still liked him! I loved reading the Paddington books so was interested when I received a press release about the Paddington film.

To publicise the film, which opens on November 28th 2014, there is a Paddington trail where 50 Paddington statues can be seen around London. Actor Hugh Bonneville, who stars in the forthcoming Paddington film, is amongst the designers and comments: “Paddington is an explorer - this trail is a wonderful way of bringing this to life and I hope it makes people look at London with fresh eyes. I am delighted to have been asked to design one of the bears and have created an ode to Paddington’s favourite preserve. I can’t wait for people to see it.”

The star-studded Paddington design team also includes former Royal Ballet principal dancer Darcey Bussell, presenters Davina McCall, Ant McPartlin & Declan Donnelly and Jonathan Ross, explorer and survival expert Bear Grylls, the Chelsea football team, the England rugby union team and Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

These adventurous designers are working on some of the 50 Paddington Bear statues, which will be placed across the capital ahead of the highly anticipated release of Paddington in UK cinemas.

This exciting and inspiring trail will take in museums, parks, shops and landmarks, all with a colourful, Paddington inspired flavour. London is Paddington’s favourite city: full of adventure and opportunities to explore the wonderful art, culture, innovation and entertainment that are so prominent in the capital. Visitors will be able to follow in the furry footsteps of the world’s favourite Peruvian explorer visiting locations across the capital from as far west as Heathrow through to the O2 in the east, taking in some of London’s key cultural and landmark hotspots such as The Royal Opera House, Museum of London, Horse Guards Parade, the Museum of Childhood and, of course, Paddington Station with the trail ending in Selfridges, from 4 November – 30 December 2014.

VisitLondon.com has also launched a dedicated section of their website which will enable visitors to London to find out more about the trail and download the trail map, share their pictures and discover the stories behind each statue and location. There is a competition in honour of Paddington, where the lucky winners will be granted return trips to London in 2015 (families included) and more!

Paddington’s origins date back almost sixty years to when his creator, Michael Bond, bought a small bear from Selfridges on Christmas Eve 1956, as a present for his wife, and named him after the nearest railway station to which they lived. Selfridges is the Trail’s retail partner and will be selling a selection of statue miniatures from a dedicated Paddington concept store showcasing a variety of Paddington related products and artifacts. The Paddington Curiosity Shop will be created especially to celebrate the historic link between the store and the famous bear as well as raising funds for the NSPCC.

In Michael Bond’s original tales, the young bear finds himself alone in a big and unfamiliar city. Taken in by the Brown family, he finds a warm welcome and a safe place to stay and sets out to discover more about his adopted city. London based design company 3DEye is helping to create the three foot six inch tall statues, all of which will be auctioned later in the year to raise money for charity partners including the NSPCC; a charity whose work is all about protecting vulnerable children and making them safe through its services including ChildLine.

The Paddington film will showcase many of the trail locations in the capital, including his first port of entry – Paddington station.

To find out more about The Paddington Trail, go to http://www.visitlondon.com/paddington/