About Us
The story of Bearing Gifts
Born from a moment of clarity in a prison cell
Half your heart, double the impact
Transforming lives through creativity
Our Story: Born Behind Bars, Made With Heart
The Bearing gifts initiative was born during a business planning masterclass held at HMP Leicester. The aim of the class was to equip the prisoners with the tools to create business plans that have a positive impact on society.
Overwhelmed by the rising cost-of-living crisis and the devastating reality of child poverty, Paddy looked around the prison and saw that most of the men in there are a product of this environment and asked himself a question…
He looked around at the other prisoners and realised many of them were products of this same environment.
"We need to be the ones to change this,"
Why can't prison workshops offer real-world training and solve real-world problems?
Paddy took this question into the Bars to Business programme. That's how Bearing Gifts was born, a project where prisoners create patchwork teddy bears from recycled textile waste.
Each bear is made in a pair: one is sold, and the other is donated to a child in need.
Two teddies sharing one heart - a symbol of care, connection, and change.
The Mission: Half Your Heart, Double the Impact
We're not just making teddy bears, we're making change.
Our bears are sewn with purpose. They carry love, dignity, and hope from those society often writes off, to those society often forgets.
Support Our Mission
Every purchase helps a child in need whilst supporting rehabilitation.