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Scunthorpe has almost 150 new members of staff giving care at the town’s hospital – and the first of them was in action before they’d even got into the building.
They’re all teddy bears from the Teddies For Loving Care charity, whose Lincolnshire representative Graham ‘Teddy Man’ Cadel was able to deliver them to the A&E department thanks to a £500 donation from Freemasons of the town’s Pharos Lodge.
The bears’ job is to comfort children having treatment, taking away some of the fear of being in strange surroundings at a difficult time in their life. On his way to deliver the bears Graham was in the car park when he spotted a child clearly going for treatment. “I asked if she would like a bear, and she nodded. When I handed it over her face just lit up, and I like to think that it was simple gesture that made her day – and did the same for her family too!”
Bears are available at hospitals around Lincolnshire thanks to the Teddies for Loving Care scheme, which is funded entirely by Freemasons, and has so far given more than four million children on England and Wales their own bear. Graham said: “The idea started in Essex when one Freemason wanted to give something positive to the community, and it snowballed from there. There are bears not only throughout England and Wales, but in other countries around the world where Freemasons have though it a good idea to follow the lead and do the same for children there too.”
Having a bear to cuddle helps children feel more secure, said Graham, and can also make treatment easier. “Staff can demonstrate treatments on the bears, and that takes away the fear children might be facing, and makes treatment easier. They’ve had cannulas fitted, had stitches and plasters, and they even fly with the Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance.”
Graham said it wasn’t just the children who were comforted, but their families too. He said: “Having a child in need of hospital treatment is traumatic for the parents too. We like to think that they’re comforted by knowing that Freemasons they’re never likely to meet care enough to help them through what is undoubtedly a trying time in their lives with a simple gesture that costs very little but means much more.”
The teddies are bought using donations made by Freemasons at Lodge meetings or social events. Graham then makes deliveries of replacements when supplies run low. He added: “It’s wonderful to be able to make a difference to so many people, and to be supported by my fellow Freemasons, whose money makes it all possible.”
