If you go down to Didcot Railway Centre next week you’re in for a big surprise and you’d better go in disguise.

For every bear that ever there was will gather there.

Yes it’s the Teddy Bears’ Picnic on Sunday.

As the song continues – “Every teddy bear that’s been good is sure of a treat today.

“There’s lots of wonderful things to eat and wonderful games to play.”

Some of the teddies will be living it up in our special saloon, No 9002, which we think was used by Dwight D. Eisenhower during the Second World War and by HM The Queen Mother to go racing.

Others will be making themselves at home in our engines and carriages.

Teddy Crump will be entertaining visitors in the picnic area and Chipper the squirrel will be around too.

There’s a teddy trail to follow with prizes, a name the bear competition, colouring sheets and a teddy tombola.

There will be unlimited train rides on our two demonstration lines and our own ‘Teddy Bear’ diesel locomotive will be pulling the one of the trains.

We have also been promised a flypast from a Hurricane and Spitfire (weather permitting) so we’re keeping our fingers crossed for good weather.

We are organising the picnic in partnership with Ronald McDonald House Oxford.

The house has 17 en-suite bedrooms, offering families the opportunity to cook together, to eat together and share their experiences.

The house also offers a lounge, bathroom, kitchen and play area for families visiting Oxford Children's Hospital for the day.

The charity now has planning permission to build a new 62 bedroom facility on the grounds of the hospital, which will enable them to help many more families.

Ronald McDonald House Oxford is run by Ronald McDonald House Charities - an independent charity that provides free ‘home away from home’ accommodation at hospitals across the UK.

It enables seriously ill children to have their families close by when they are undergoing treatment and allows them to maintain a degree of normal family life.

There are 14 Ronald McDonald Houses in the UK and in 2016 they helped support more than 7,000 families.

The charity was founded in 1989 and has been keeping families together for more than 25 years in the UK.

Children with teddies (or cuddly ducks, elephants, dinosaurs, lambs, and so on) are admitted free of charge on Sunday.

For more information visit didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk