‘All I want for Christmas is…a bath, knitted blanket and a hug!’

• Homemade presents rank top with parents
• Parents spend an average of £30.16 per present
• British parents worried friends are overstretching themselves to buy big pressies
• Mums and dads feel pressure to buy more and more expensive gifts
• Give a thoughtful pledge of time rather than splashing the cash this Christmas

 Christmas is one of the most magical times of the year for parents, but can also be an expensive concern. New research reveals that one in three (35 per cent) are worried about how they will afford Christmas presents this year, with parents more than non-parents (25 per cent: 20 per cent), feeling an increased pressure every year to buy bigger and better presents.

But it seems there might be a simple solution, according to research of 734 parents by iconic bear brand Forever Friends – it should be about sentiment this year, with a pledge of time and thought rather than an expensive gift.

The research from the loveable bears shows almost half (44 per cent) would much rather receive something small and thoughtful than something big and flashy with no feeling behind it. In fact 38 per cent said they felt embarrassed when they were given an extravagant gift and one in seven (14 per cent) have actually been offended by a gift that obviously had no thought behind it. We are all far too polite to say anything though, as over half of us (52 per cent) would keep quiet if we got a present we didn’t like.

Instead of a traditional Christmas present, parents ranked the following as the top 10 things they’d like to receive from friends and family, with the tops ones: to be taken out for a meal, a small but thoughtful token of a friendship/relationship, to be cooked a homemade meal, and a big hug.

 To support the research, Forever Friends has developed a downloadable online pledge to allow people to promise to do something as a gift for family and friends – such as babysit for an evening or make dinner, without the need to splash the cash. To download your free promise pledge visit www.foreverfriends.co.uk or even send to a family member as a hint!

Forever Friends has announced the launch of two new digital products featuring the world’s cutest bears for Christmas.

Always re-inventing itself to meet media advancement and demand, the bear’s journey continues in its mission to help consumers express their love, sentiment and friendship with the launch of the Forever Friends iBook and Christmas animation, available now for the festive season and beyond.

The Forever Friends iBook ‘When Magic Really Happens’: The Forever Friends storybook is available for the first time on the iPad. The interactive iBook, aimed at increasingly tech-savvy children, can be downloaded from the iTunes store.

The iBook is designed to enhance the reader’s experience with key interactive features including, three options of reading; ‘read to me’, ‘read myself’ or ‘record me’ plus 18 mini-games, animated films with secret movie episodes and the ability to create Christmas cards to share. It is recommended for ages 4-10 years and priced at just £2.99.

The Forever Friends Christmas Animation ‘The Magical Fairy Bear’

Developed to promote Forever Friends to its worldwide strong base of fans, this four-minute, 3D animation is a story about a Christmas adventure introducing new characters of Fairy Bear, Santa Bear and Ballerina Bear in a heart-warming bedtime story. This animation is free to all Forever Friends fans and is available to watch via Facebook or YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/SharingHugs).

For more information about Forever Friends visit www.foreverfriends.co.uk