25,000 teddies donated to hospital in seven years (From Echo)

25,000 teddies donated to hospital in seven years

6:50am Wednesday 6th August 2008 in

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MORE than 25,000 teddies have been donated to young patients at Southend Hospital in seven years thanks to a scheme which started there and has spread across the globe.

The Essex Masons launched TLC – Teddies for Loving Care at the hospital’s A&E unit.

When a child is in distress at they can be difficult to treat and the whole experience can be frightening and stressful. A TLC Teddy for them to look at and cuddle can calm them down.

Cheryl Schwarz, clinical services manager at A&E, said: “The teddies are a great source of comfort for children in pain or distress.

“When we give a TLC teddy to a child the transformation is amazing – we see tears turn to smiles. We are very grateful to the freemasons.”

The scheme now runs in 37 counties including Cyprus, and the USA and it all started in Southend.

Ian Simpson, chairman of TLC, said “We are delighted to have been able to help Southend A&E and are very proud of the 500,000 TLC Teddies, with over 130,000 in Essex and 25,000 at Southend, that have relieved severely distressed children. A magnificent achievement, none of which would have been possible without the freemasons in Essex and elsewhere.”