Supporting Children with Vitiligo

Aim

To create a teddy that mirrors the skin pigment of children with vitiligo, to help them feel more comfortable and confident.

We are The Vitiligo Society, a small charity that supports people living with vitiligo in the UK

 In case you don't know, vitiligo affects between 1%-2% of the population. It's an autoimmune disease, most easily identified as it causes loss of pigmentation in skin. 

The condition is especially hard for children, as there is no cure.  Children with vitiligo grow up looking different, and it can be a real struggle learning to adjust to being looked at, and answering questions about why their skin is changing. 

Our project may seem cute, but it will make a real difference to children with vitiligo in the UK. 

To be able to manufacture a toy like this would help us to:

• normalise the condition 
• provide an educational tool when a child explains their vitiligo
• offer comfort to a newly diagnosed child 

The money we raise here will be used for the design and production costs of an initial batch of bears. The bears will be made available via our online shop and then money raised from the distribution of these will then support us to make more bears available.

There has never been anything like this for children, and it would mean the world to parents and carers of children with vitiligo to be able to purchase a teddy like this for their child.

We have been supporting our community for over 30 years, and we know this is really needed. 

Please help us make our vitiligo bear a reality.

This project successfully funded on 16th June 2021