LITTLE did Joanne Sibley realise when she started making memory bears that it would spiral into an international business..

What started as a little something for family members has now snowballed to such an extent, that Nanna’s Memory Bears travel world-wide to the likes of the USA, Denmark and Dubai.

Joanne creates the bears from her own home in Springfield, Rowley Regis, before they are dispatched far and wide.

Proud daughter Rebecca has praised her mum’s enterprise and said: “I think it’s about time everyone knew about Nanna’s Memory Bears and just how proud her family are of her and what my mum has achieved.

“The bears have brought so much comfort and joy to everyone, especially during Covid when people couldn’t properly say goodbye to their loved ones.

@nannasmemorybears memory bear made from a dearly missed Grandad's clothing 💜#memorybear #memorybears #fyp #foryoupage #inlovingmemory ♬ original sound - Mandi Fisher

“My mum has always been interested in sewing and crafts, so she started making the bears just for the family at first. It was purely as a hobby, but then people started talking about the memory bears and the word started to spread about what my mum did and it just went from there!

“Now it’s full scale and sometimes she has to work seven days a week, creating the bears that help keep people’s memories alive.

“She even been able to create military bears, for those who support our country."