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Children from Woolenwick Infant and Nursery School gave Paddington Bear their own special Stevenage welcome on Sunday 5 December 2021, when he visited the town centre as part of the town’s December to Remember celebrations.

Over the past few weeks, Stevenage Borough Council’s regeneration team and Junction 7 Creatives have been working with Woolenwick School and pupils, who have been busy making special bunting and creating colourful postcards to tell Paddington why they think Stevenage is special. The collaborative project celebrates everything good about our town and its regeneration.

Christina Anderson, Inclusion and Specialist Leader in Cultural Education (SLICE) from Woolenwick School, explained: “The children were really excited to meet Paddington and enjoyed thinking creatively about what they really like about Stevenage, learning about the regeneration programme and thinking more widely about supporting refugees.

The children designed and made model houses from cardboard - not forgetting Paddington’s own particular requirements of having somewhere to make his marmalade sandwiches. The children’s creative work is being displayed at Junction 7 Creatives until the end of the month.

Junction 7 Creatives Co-Director, John Prebble, said “We’re really happy to work with and display the wonderful Paddington displays made by the children. We will be continuing to provide additional Paddington-themed colouring and other creative activities for children and families to do in December.”

Cllr John Gardner, Portfolio holder Regeneration & Environment, added: “We are delighted to help bring our £1billion regeneration programme to life for our younger generation. Engaging with the local community and schools is a key part of our regeneration programme as it benefits everyone but the younger generation particularly, as we look forward to a bright future and an even better Stevenage.“

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