CHILDREN’S Build-A-Bear parties are actually sweatshops, it has emerged.
Children as young as four are lured into the parties with the promise of fun then forced to sit at long tables in badly-ventilated rooms and stuff soft toys before dressing them in outfits.
Parents are often found to collude in the exploitation so that they can sit on a miniature plastic chair and enjoy a small, lukewarm cup of tea in a polystyrene cup.
An NSPCC spokesman said: “The children aren’t even paid for their work, and if they don’t shell out exorbitant fees to buy the bears they’re shipped off to wealthy families in China.
“Parents must look out for the signs of child labour, like being invited to a party on the promise of ‘juice’.”
