It was a beautiful spring morning in Newbury as hundreds of residents and visitors gathered to celebrate the much-anticipated return of the town’s beloved Paddington statue on Wednesday, 9th April.
On what BBC Radio Berkshire fondly dubbed ‘Marmalade Day,’ people of all ages headed into Newbury town centre, with excitement building ahead of a day that many local families and Paddington fans had been eagerly awaiting.
In the lead-up to the unveiling, Newbury Business Improvement District, the community interest company that operates the Visit Newbury brand, set up a traditional red postbox beside the bench and invited local children to post ‘Welcome Home’ letters to Paddington. Marmalade sandwiches were also handed out as the crowd patiently awaited the unveiling.
Ian Batho and Ashley Morris, Chair and Vice-Chair of Newbury BID, were joined by BBC Radio Berkshire’s Phil Mercer ahead of the ceremony. Together, they shared a few words about Paddington’s special connection to Newbury – the birthplace of Michael Bond, Paddington’s creator – before leading the crowd in a countdown to reveal the freshly repaired statue.
Following the unveiling, local children from John Rankin School treated the crowd to a lively ukulele performance, organised by Good Vibes Music Academy, which added to the joyful atmosphere with Paddington finally back in his rightful home.
Ben Beardmore-Gray, Marketing Manager at Newbury BID, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with the turnout today. We all knew Paddington had been dearly missed, but even we were surprised to see so many people joining us on this sunny morning for his re-unveiling.
“After a very busy few weeks organising his return, we are over the moon that Paddington is back home and look forward to everyone being able to enjoy Paddington once again.”
Inspector Alan Hawkett, of the Newbury Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “We are delighted to see Paddington back on his bench after rescuing him from his thieves and it was lovely to celebrate his return with the community.
“As soon as the vandalism and theft was reported to us, we knew we had to do everything we could to retrieve the beloved statue and bring the offenders to justice, which we achieved.
“The investigation was a real team effort, including my team, the Special Constabulary, CCTV operators and others. We also had a lot of help from Newbury BID, local businesses, taxi companies, and the general public so thank you to everyone who supported our efforts.”
Newbury town centre’s CCTV is provided by Scion Communications Fire & Security, based in Thatcham. Dean Caplin, Managing Director, added: “It was a proud day to be invited to the unveiling of Paddington Bear today. The CCTV across our beloved town was installed to help protect our town and people. The system was instrumental in capturing and leading to the arrest of the two individuals that committed this act of criminality.”
Trish Willetts, CEO at Newbury BID, finished by saying: “The team at Newbury BID would like to extend our thanks to Thames Valley Police, who acted so swiftly on the day, and our CCTV providers Scion Communications Fire & Security, who provide our excellent CCTV system in Newbury town centre. Without their support Paddington would almost certainly have not been recovered so quickly. Thanks to both organisations we have been able to bring Paddington home much sooner than any of us expected.”
Newbury, the birthplace of Paddington’s creator Michael Bond, made international headlines in March 2025 after the town’s beloved bear statue was vandalised overnight, leading to widespread media coverage over the following 5 weeks as the story regularly topped ‘most read’ lists on major news outlets across the country.
Newbury BID originally brought Paddington to Newbury in October 2024, as part of STUDIOCANAL’s national Paddington Visits trail.
