A BEWDLEY artist has launched a Crowdfunder appeal to raise funds to bring back the bear she designed for Birmingham's Big Sleuth to the town.

Betti Moretti launched the fundraising page 'Bring Bear It In Mindfulness Back Home to Bewdley' in a hope to raise £6,000 to buy the bear at an auction to raise money for Birmingham Children's Hospital.

The Big Sleuth bears will go under the hammer at a special auction at Birmingham's Thinktank on Thursday (October 12) and Betti is hoping to raise enough funds to bring back her individually designed bear to Bewdley.

Betti's bear, Bear It In Mindfulness, has been situated outside Birmingham New Street Station and Grand Central, near to the Bullring, over the summer, and has helped raise awareness of the endangered sun bear.

She said: "The Big Sleuth was organised by Wild In Art to raise valuable funds for Birmingham Children's Hospital. It has been amazing to be part of it.

"My daughter, Coco, goes to the hospital and they have been brilliant - with both of us. It's great to be able to give something back.

"The Malayan sun bear, also known as the sun bear, is our smallest species of bear is now sadly endangered. The project helped raise awareness of their plight.

"They hail from Asia, and so my design for my bear reflected their natural habitat and was done in a mindfulness style - to allow people to stop for a moment, look, ponder and smile.

"Mindfulness has been proven to have health benefits and the majority of my artwork is in this style. At 5ft 5, this was a lot bigger than my usual canvas and it took over 400 hours to complete - I loved every one of them.

"Two years ago the Big Hoot auction raise over half a million pounds for the hospital - and this year, we are hoping to beat it."

She added: "For all these reasons and more, the whole project has ticked many boxes for me and I will be doing more in the future - but for now, I'd like Bear It In Mindfulness to come back to Bewdley to be enjoyed by residents and visitors alike.

"He could do a tour and spend time at our schools, businesses, St George's Hall, in a nice pub garden, at the library - anywhere really.

"It will generate footfall and business - and it means I get to see the little critter again, we artists all put our hearts and souls in to the bears - and it's hard to say goodbye."

To donate to Betti's appeal and to help raise funds for Birmingham Children's Hospital, visit crowdfunder.co.uk/bring-bear-it-in-mindfulness-home-to-bewdley.