In 2006, 18-year-old Cassie Matus set off on her Israel gap year with Habonim Dror with an unusual companion - a teddy bear dressed rather similarly to her. "My mum gave her to me as a mascot. It was basically a bear version of me," she recalled. Now head of Israel programmes at UJIA Israel Experience, her bear has been the inspiration for this summer's hugely successful #tedontour contest run by UJIA in partnership with the youth movements.
The idea was that each of the UJIA-supported Israel tours - with a total 1,230 participants from 10 movements - took along a teddy as a fully integrated tour member. Most importantly, the bear would be photographed regularly during the programme for Twitter posts reflecting the diversity of the experience. Hundreds of photos from across Israel were posted over the course of the summer, tagging @UJIAcharity, movement and tour number, plus a message. There were images of teds at the Kotel, the Knesset and Masada, as well as at seminars and outdoor activities. UJIA collated all the posts in albums at www.ujia.org/tedontour, attracting more than 13,000 visits to the page.
Now a UJIA judging panel has chosen JLGB and its Bearjamin Netedyahu as the contest winner.
Sacha Johnstone, 20, who co-led the winning group, said: "One of the best things about #tedontour was that our bear was the mutual friend of everyone. It gave participants the impetus to talk to new people each day because different people were responsible for looking after him and setting up shots at cultural and historical sites.
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