60 RAF Wittering families who will have a serving person deployed overseas this Christmas will receive a free teddy bear from the Little Troopers charity.
Little Troopers supports children who have a parent or parents serving in the British Armed Forces, regular or reserve.
They’ve partnered with the Build-A-Bear Foundation to distribute more than 2,200 free teddy bears to military families across the UK as part of its Christmas Smiles campaign
60 of these teddies are destined to bring smiles to the children of RAF Wittering who won’t have a parent around this Christmas.
Wing commander Nikki Duncan, officer commanding support at RAF Wittering, said: “Many of our personnel are deployed on operations away from their families during the festive season which can be particularly difficult for children.
“This is a fantastic initiative by Little Troopers and it is wonderful to see these teddy bears bring a smile to our children’s faces.” 
Louise Fetigan, founder of Little Troopers, said: “It’s always hard for children to have a parent serving away from home but it can be especially hard at Christmas.
“That’s why our annual Christmas Smiles campaign is so important as it brings smiles to the faces of military children who are missing their parent at this important time of year.
“Thanks to the Build-A-Bear Foundation we’ve been able to send a special bear hug to thousands of military children who are missing their parent this Christmas.
“It’s our reminder them that our charity is thinking about them and understands what they are going through when they are feeling lonely or sad.”
The teddy bears aren’t the only thing that the Little Troopers is doing this Christmas.
The charity has also organised free cinema screenings and online events including a Santa show, elf workshops and a Christmas bake-a-long.
Though the charity doesn’t only provide support at Christmas, they also have year-round resources that parents and schools can tap use to help support military children.
This includes their All Together deployment club, military teen podcast and a therapy programme among others.
For more information on the charity and what the Little Troopers have to offer, visit: www.littletroopers.net
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