A TWO-foot-tall chocolate bunny rabbit has found a new home for Christmas as part of a charity raffle to raise funds for the TCR Hub’s care packages.
The chocolate bunny, donated by the Chocolate Fayre, in Barnard Castle, was presented to chocolate-lover Robert Kirby, of Middleton-in-Teesdale, last week
Kenny Walker, from Chocolate Fayre, said: “Normally we host a charity raffle for the bunny rabbit at Easter, but we weren’t able to do that because of Covid-19 and the lockdown. I suggested to the Hub to have it and raise funds for their Christmas appeal.”
Hundreds of people bought tickets for an online raffle organised by The Hub. Money raised went towards Christmas hampers for Teesdale residents who needed support.
Mr Kirby, who works at the Teesdale Mercury, unwrapped the bunny back at the office but resisted the urge to take a bite.
He said he’d considered donating it to raise more funds for charity but admitted he likes “good-quality” chocolate too much and will be sharing it with family over the festive period.
Rachel Tweddle from the Hub said: “It is amazing and people have been so generous, especially Kenny.
“I really wish I’d won the bunny myself. It has been fantastic the support the businesses in town have given us and we are really grateful.”
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
