Source: Metro.co.uk.
UK – WOKINGHAM – A bear in bondage gear might be just what some people want to cuddle up to on a cold winter’s night.
But it’s apparently lost on some that risqué stuffed animals don’t make an appropriate Christmas gift for a child.
The First Days Children’s Charity has complained after discovering one such teddy neatly wrapped up in one of its donation baskets.
Fortunately, the toy bear was caught and removed after a volunteer removed the packaging in line with the charity’s policy.
First Days chief Emma Cantrell said adult toys are a ‘a prime example of why we ask people, please, not to wrap presents for youngsters’.
She told Wokingham Today: ‘It can feel wonderful to make a gift look exciting by packaging it beautifully, and it can be done with the very best of intentions.
‘But this example is ample evidence that we need to be able to see and check every Christmas present that comes in.
‘Imagine how a child would feel if it had been given to them on Christmas Day.’
Metro.co.uk was unable to identify the company behind the bear after sifting through a scarring quantity of listings for similar products online.
It’s not clear whether the bear has still found its way to a loving adults-only home in time for Christmas, or if it was destroyed.
Ms Cantrell added: ‘I would like to think that it was inadvertently dropped into the wrong donation bag when someone was having a clear out.
‘It was meant as a joke, it really wasn’t funny, and any other reason for it being there would be quite sinister.’
Other children’s charities have been forced to issue similar warnings amid a swell in donations fuelled by the Christmas spirit.
Barnardo’s begged people to ‘refrain from donating your used and unused marital aids’ after receiving an array of sex toys.
A spokesperson said in October: ‘We’re always hugely appreciative of donations from the community – but it’s fair to say that these items aren’t quite the sorts of toys we’re looking for.
‘We would like to remind you that the branch has CCTV so that these items can be traced back to their owners. Thank you.’
