CHILDREN affected by the tsunami disaster will soon be receiving a little comfort in the shape of a teddy bear.

Girls, staff and parents from Teesside Prep and High School, in Eaglescliffe, have been busy knitting in response to the appeal Teddies for Tragedies, a project created 20 years ago by the WRVS. Since then teddies have been sent all over the world to places including Sudan, Uganda, Romania, Croatia and Calcutta.

The appeal was spotted by Sue Brown, who is personal assistant to the headmistress. She put up posters and distributed copies of the knitting pattern around the school.

"I thought it was something we could do to help which would only take a few hours," she said. "Doctors who treat children in the Third World have found that the teddies are sometimes as important as medicines in the healing process.

"The pattern is easy enough for youngsters to knit, and we hope to send out at least three boxes full to comfort some of the children who have lost everything in the tsunami disaster."