Lincoln City’s ‘LNER Bear’ Makes Lots of New Friends
A restored teddy bear has been become the centre of attention at Lincoln City’s Extra Time Hub. The bear’s owner David Christopher is been a regular member of the Extra Time Hub project at Lincoln City Foundation since connecting to the team during the Covid-19 lockdown period.
Funded by the National Lottery and Sport England and backed by the EFL Trust the initiative aims to make a positive difference to the lives of semi-retired and retired people.
To help keep David socially connecting during the pandemic, David received a weekly befriending call, during which he enjoyed chatting to Foundation staff and telling stories of his hobbies and interests. Through these conversations the Foundation found out that one of David’s hobbies is restoring teddy bears. So once restrictions eased a little, David joined one of the Health Walks the Foundation held at his local park. As well as getting the got a chance to walk, talk and meet with people from his local area, David brought along one of his repaired bears. The bear, which David has had since childhood, proved to be a great topic of conversation. The bear was so popular that he now comes along each each week with David, has been renamed ‘The LNER Bear’ and is the official mascot at the Extra Time sessions.
David adds; ‘I think everyone loves our little LNER Bear and I hope he raises a smile! Coming along to Extra Time Hub sessions certainly makes me feel happier, especially be able to get together with other people again.
David now attends the weekly Stadium Meet Up session at the LNER Stadium, and it is something he looks forward to each Friday. David’s walks with the Foundation have also inspired him to keep active more often, and he now walks from home to the LNER Stadium each week, as well as continuing to walk with friends he met around his local park.
David says: ‘I love it at the Extra Time Hub, and it gives me a reason to get out the house each Friday and see some friendly faces. Through attending the Stadium Meet Up sessions I have met lots of new people and I look forward to being able to chat to friends. We talk about football, and being in the Stadium inspires us to connect with each other around football stories and memories’.
