The Teddies for Loving Care or the TLC was created after the wife of a Freemason’s life was saved medical staff at an A&E unit.  The Freemason and his wife were both so grateful for the care and attention that she received that it got them thinking about how frightening it must be for a child who was facing a similar situation in a A&E units.
With the support of some local Freemasons, the idea of “Teddies for Loving Care” was born.  It started in Essex in 2001 and has now been  adopted by many Masonic provinces across the country, with the money for the Teddies being raised from Freemasons themselves through lodge donations, and grants etc.
The medical staff in the A&E units give a TLC bear to a child who is suffering from trauma, injury or illness. They use the bears to befriend the children, to reward them for being brave and in sometimes to demonstrate the medical procedures that are going to be performed.
Well over 1,000,000 teddies have now been distributed to A&E units across the country.
With the support of a grant from the East Lancashire Masonic Charity; East Ribble District Freemasons recently restocked Royal Blackburn Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department with 12 boxes of Teddies for Loving Care.
Article and Image: East Ribble District Team