Pre-loved toy business partners with wildlife trust

A "one of a kind" pre-loved soft toy business which is trying to change perceptions of second-hand items has teamed up with a wildlife trust.

Charlotte Liebling, 28, from Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, started Loved Before as an online business from her conservatory and her toys are now stocked in Selfridges stores.

The pre-loved stuffed animals will now feature at 11 Essex Wildlife Trust sites in a partnership that Ms Liebling said was "beautifully aligned".

"They're all about conservation and empowering people to take action in terms of the environment," she said.

Toys are donated to the business before they go through "meticulous deep cleaning" and are then rehomed, with a back story to every teddy.

Loved Before has permanent stands in Selfridges stores in Birmingham, Manchester and London.

Ms Liebling said: "If we're to make a long-term fundamental difference, this isn't about saving a few stuffed animals from landfill... you have to do something big and huge to shift mindsets to make a difference - for me, absolutely, being in Selfridges changes that perception."

She said one of her "bucket list" ambitions was to partner with zoos and wildlife trusts, and the shops across Essex have selections of toys related to the animals and insects found on each site, including sea creatures and flowers and fauna.

The trust said there was a "lovely connection" between the work both parties were trying to achieve.

"We are really excited to be working with Loved Before," it said.

"As a conservation charity, Essex Wildlife Trust encourages everyone to think about sustainability, and this is a wonderful example of how we can give toys a second home rather than going to landfill.

"Some of our Nature Discovery Centres are built upon land which was previously a landfill or used for industrial purposes but have since been reclaimed for wildlife, so there’s a lovely connection between the work that Loved Before does and the trust’s conservation efforts."

Ms Liebling said she hoped to change perceptions around the concept of pre-loved.

"As a society, we teach the message of embracing imperfections and the things that make us different. That's all that second-hand is - shared memories and a load of love that has been poured into it," she said.

Follow East of England news on X, Instagram and Facebook: BBC Beds, Herts & Bucks, BBC Cambridgeshire, BBC Essex, BBC Norfolk, BBC Northamptonshire or BBC Suffolk.