Specsavers stores in Falmouth and Helston are acting as official collection points for the Royal Cornwall Hospital's Baby and Birth Appeal (BABA), which calls for locals to buy and donate bears to provide all babies born in Cornwall with the best start in life.

Gillian Sanguinette, Specsavers Falmouth and Helston store director, said: ‘We’re delighted to support the Baby and Birth Appeal. Every baby deserves the best start in life. If we can all help provide the best care possible for generations to come with the donation of a teddy bear then we are doing a wonderful thing."

More than 4,000 babies are born at Royal Cornwall Hospital every year, however the original wards have not been upgraded since they were built five decades ago.

The half a million pound makeover will see a new suite with a water birth pool and the neonatal unit will move to a much bigger area. There will be more space in the special care nurseries too.

The major renovations are already happening but the project needs the right equipment to care for the one in ten babies that will need extra help. For example, a special incubator for twins, so poorly babies no longer have to be split up and put in separate incubators when they are born.

To drop off your teddy bear or to make a monetary donation visit Specsavers stores in Falmouth and Helston. To find out more about the Baby and Birth Appeal visit royalcornwall.nhs.uk/ready-teddy-go-pirate-fm-appeal-begun/.