IT’S a case of ‘Ready, teddy, go!’ in East Oxford as an appeal has been launched for unwanted cuddly toys for the annual Dawson Street teddy bears’ picnic.

The popular event has survived the cancellation of the Cowley Road Carnival and will this year become one of the highlights of an alternative summer event.

The so-called Cowley Road Fringe will go ahead on Sunday, July 5, complete with the picnic, while a Carnival in the Park event will be hosted in South Parks on the same day.

The teddy bears’ picnic usually sees about 300 children and adults enjoy a combination of food, music and cuddly toys.

The bears are sold, raffled or given away as prizes during the event.

This year, the picnic will raise money for the Sumatran Orangutan Society and will feature a live music stage in Dawson Street as well as dancing lessons by children from the Asian island of East Timor.

People are being invited to donate their bears, with collection boxes set up at the Tesco Metro and Bead Games in Cowley Road.

Erica Steinhauer of The Plain Traders Association said: “We’re really looking forward to demonstrating that the spirit of the Dawson Street garden party has proved strong and creative enough to continue with a large-scale community event.”

Organisers are hoping for better weather than in 2007, when 500 teddies were ruined when heavy rain damaged bears being collected in the Barnardo’s charity shop in Cowley Road.

Helen Buckland, the UK director of the Sumatran Orangutan Society which is based in Cowley Road, said: “For every bear sold, we’re hoping to plant a tree in Sumatra for the orangutans.”