Everyone’s favourite marmalade-loving bear, Paddington Bear is touring around UK hospitals this month in support of UK children’s charity, Action Medical Research. Paddington has been helping to fundraise for Action Medical Research ever since his creator, Michael Bond, met the charity’s founder Duncan Guthrie in 1976.

As part of his travels, Paddington will be visiting sick children and babies in hospitals all over the country. He is encouraging people to sponsor him on his travels by donating to his ‘Bear Miles for Breakthroughs’ appeal, which will raise vital funds for the charity.  Every penny donated will go towards funding breakthrough medical research to help save young lives.

To mark the start of his travels last week (and the launch of the appeal), Paddington set off from Paddington Railway Station - the very place where he was found by the Brown family almost 56 years ago. He has already visited Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton, and next on his schedule are the Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle on August 19, Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge on August 27 and John Radcliffe Children’s Hospital in Oxford on September 10.

All the money raised through Bear Miles will help fund important medical research into conditions like stillbirth, epilepsy, meningitis, cerebral palsy and brain cancer, as well as some rare and distressing conditions that severely affect children.

Supporters can donate to the Bear Miles appeal on Action Medical Research’s Charity Choice appeal page, or on the charity’s own website. They can also follow Paddington as he travels around the country by following @actionmedres on Twitter.