Ten Thousand Teddies to Taunton
A very special target was reached recently when the 10,000th TLC bear was donated to Musgrove Park Hospital
The Provincial Grand Master Ray Guthrie, accompanied by Roger Penny, the Somerset TLC Coordinator, visited the hospital to congratulate Adrian Halliwell, the Taunton area representative for TLC and jointly made a presentation of the 10,000th bear donated to MPH.
This milestone has been achieved through the hard work of Adrian over the last nineteen years.
The money to purchase the bears is raised by donations from Masonic Lodges and almost 60,000 have been donated in Somerset alone, where every A&E and Minor Injury Unit is supplied, whilst more than 3.5 million teddy bears have been donated Nationally.
Adrian has worked as the TLC Area Representative since the scheme was adopted in Somerset and has been very innovative with his fund-raising methods: which have included plant sales, quiz nights and the collection of 5p pieces by supportive brethren.
A visit to the Accident and Emergency department is usually quite traumatic, even for an adult, and for small children in distress there is often little that can be done to pacify them.
However, Teddies for Loving Care, donated to the hospital staff to use at their discretion, offer help to our little ones on these distressing occasions and it is amazing to think that the scheme has already helped 10,000 toddlers at Musgrove Park alone.
TLC began when an Essex Freemason was looking for a way to thank the staff in his local A&E unit after they saved his wife’s life. They both found the experience very frightening and wanted to “give something back” and from that humble beginning TLC was formed; quickly spreading throughout the nation, adopted by Freemasons in virtually every province and some districts abroad.
In addition to calming the young patients the teddy is often used by staff to help explain the treatment that they will need to administer and the bears themselves often “receive an injection” or “get their wounds dressed.”
Adrian’s hard work has clearly been greatly appreciated, by staff and patients alike, and the hospital Facebook page has received numerous complementary posts, mainly from mothers reminiscing about how the TLC bear they received helped their child through a stressful situation.
Adrian’s achievement even made it to Radio Somerset where he was interviewed by Charlie Taylor on his Early Morning Show.
We know that the A&E staff find the bears invaluable and that parents appreciate them but there is no greater evidence of their value when you see a toddler clutching their bear.
Report from Roger Penny (Somerset TLC Coordinator)
