Origins of Scheme

In March 2001 the Teddies for Loving Care (TLC) Charity was initiated by WBro Ian Simpson in the Masonic Province of Essex. Its purpose is to provide teddy bears to Accident and Emergency units for the medical staff to give to children who are admitted to help alleviate the children's distress.

The Charity began its work in Essex in September 2001. Since then the initiative has been taken up by 37 of the 47 Provinces in England and Wales and by Districts overseas. To date well over 500,000 teddies have been distributed.

Introduction of Scheme into Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire

In 2003 Teddies for Loving Care was piloted in the Province of Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire by the late WBro John Stokes in association with Hinchingbrooke Hospital at Huntingdon. In this first year over 7,500 teddies were distributed there to sick children.

The scheme was so successful that in early 2004 it was expanded to include all hospitals in the Province. These teddies can now be found across the Province

The following Brethren co--ordinate the scehme in the hospitals in the Province

Funding to provide the teddies at these hospitals was raised within Lodges in the Province and all Lodges donated.

In 2005-2007, the Douglas Compton James Charitable Trust has kindly donated funds to finance the scheme in this Province.

In January, 2008, the scheme was extended to the Fire and Rescue Service when all 28 of Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Services frontline fire engines, covering 22 stations from Brackley at one end of the county to Oundle at the other, now carry a stock of bears for fire crews to give to children they encounter in distress. From house fires to road traffic accidents, the fire crews will now have an extra string to their bows when helping young children deal with the trauma an incident brings.

The feedback from firefighters, parents, doctors, nurses and other clinical staff and, most importantly, the children themselves, continues to be most positive.

By the end of 2008 over 40,000 teddies had been distributed in this Province.

Letters of Appreciation

Up to August 2008 over 50,000 teddies had been distributed and, in writing a letter of thanks, a Consultant in Accident and Emergency at Kettering General Hospital said, "Thank you for giving our Department these teddies. They are certainly very welcome when we are trying to treat distressed children and can make all the difference to a child's experience whist in our Department."