A dad from Morley, Leeds, has launched a new business making bespoke teddy bears for poorly children to help them feel better.
His teddy bears with health conditions have become an internet sensation amongst parents of vulnerable children and play therapists alike.
Nick Hardman, 37, works in industrial automation and likes to use his 3D printers in his spare time to create other objects on the side.
At the beginning of the pandemic, he used his 3D printers to produce 12,500 items of PPE to help stem the shortage that was seen across care homes and NHS hospitals.
Once supply began to level out for PPE, he then looked for a new project and came up with the idea to start making toys for sick children instead.
Soon after setting up his 3D Toy Shop, he received a request from a parent of a child with hydrocephalus to create them an accessible toy.
So, after doing some research and discovering the condition - in which an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid occurs within the brain, typically causing increased pressure and headaches - is often regulated with the use of a shunt valve, Nick set about doing just that.
The father of two designed and printed off a teddy-sized valve, then went about fitting it to the bear so that the child's toy would be just like them. After sharing it online, the post went viral - with over 68,000 commenting to praise his ingenuity.
That was in X. By October, he had over 100 requests for teddies with shunt valves - so set about getting the products tested to guarantee they were safe to be played with by the vulnerable children who wanted them.
He set up a fundraiser and found a lab to test his toys and plastics, refining the design to make sure it was compliant with toy standards before shipping the bears out to their new families.
Listed on Etsy, the shunt valve teddy bears have now been shipped right across the world to customers in far-flung countries like Australia and America.
Nick continues to take requests for accessible toys, and has gone on to create a bear with a tracheostomy valve and another with a Berlin Heart called Eddie the Teddy. 1.2-metre bear Eddie is destined for Great Ormond Street Hospital, where he will be taken into the care of one lucky child.
Having received a lot of interest from hospitals and from play therapists seeking new ways to normalise disabilities for children, Hardman's ext plan is to set up a not-for-profit 3D printing business going forward with more machines to help him supply directly to hospitals.
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Take a look inside the huge Tulip Festival that’s just opened in Yorkshire with over one million tulips
Farmer Copley's Tulip Festival is back and it's just as beautiful as we remember.
Spring has officially sprung and with it, so does Farmer Copley's iconic Tulip Festival that officially opened last Sunday.
Based in West Yorkshire, nestled between Pontefract and Featherstone, the Copley family really know how to get you feeling ready for the season ahead.
Just moments after entering the festival, we can assure you that winter will feel like a distant memory.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Spanning over 8 acres, Jack and the team have planted over 600,00 tulip bulbs consisting of 100+ different varieties of all shapes and colours that arrived directly from the Netherlands.
In addition to the 500,000 planted last year, that means there's over one million tulips to enjoy - now that is pretty impressive if you ask us.
Varieties include Carnaval de Rio, Tom Pouce, Gavota, Lily Flowering Mix, Blushing Appledorn, Wedding Dress and Rodolfo.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
The festival includes five sections that have been split by 5 metre walkways enabling the best customer interaction in the field.
There's two dedicated pick your own areas where a mix of bulbs have been planted to ensure that visitors have a wide range of tulips to explore, pick from and create the perfect bunch of tulips. How lovely is that?
Of course there's plenty of photo opportunities, fairground rides and a bar to enjoy the view with a tipple or two.
This really is the perfect family-friendly day out and with the weather looking gorgeous (for now), we'd take the opportunity to see the tulips looking their best whilst you can.
The festival is on until Sunday 3 May 2026, with tickets starting from just £9.
To find out more and to book your ticket, take a look at Farmer Copleys website. We'll see you in the tulip fields.
Popular Channel 4 series The Dog House is looking for people from Yorkshire to adopt rescue dogs
Emily Sergeant
Could you give a rescue dog a second chance in life? Now’s your chance.
The next series of hit Channel 4 show The Dog House is currently in the works, with producers on the lookout for people willing to give rescue dogs a forever home, and people from Yorkshire are being encouraged to apply.
Since first hitting our screens back in 2019, the award-winning series – which is currently in partnership with Woodgreen Pets Charity – has captured the hearts of viewers across the UK, sharing emotional stories of rescue dogs and the people hoping to give them a forever home.
Viewers get to watch incredible journeys of rescue dogs finding their perfect match.
Image: Channel 4
But the show demonstrates that it’s not just the dogs who are being rescued, many of their new owners also find their lives transformed in the process.
“Once again, we’ll be following the expert team of dog-matchers, meeting this year’s rescue dogs, and of course, getting to the know the amazing people who are looking to offer them a lifelong home,” a casting call for The Dog House reads on the Channel 4 website.
“We’re looking for people who are considering taking the incredible step of welcoming a rescue dog into their lives and are happy to share their reasons for doing so.
“If that’s you, then we’d love to get you know you.”
Does this sound like you then? Channel 4 is keen to hear the reasons why you may be looking for a new canine companion, so anyone who fancies applying for the show is asked to fill out an application form online.
Georgina Pellant -
4th May 2021 
