TLC Appeal Home

The aims and objectives of the TLC Appeal

Teddies for Loving Care Appeal or TLC Appeal

(Registered Charity No 1087765)

The Appeal has a simple objective. To provide teddies or soft toys to A&E units:-

for the medical staff to give, at their discretion, to children who are in severe distress, where the staff feel that a teddy to cuddle will help alleviate that distress, that will assist them in their urgent work.

My daughter crushed her finger in her bedroom door. She fortunately didn't break it but it did required stitches. To cheer her up the nurse at the Royal Berks was asked her to choose a bear. Sarah chose a bear with a yellow body (her favourite colour). This was instantly given the name of sunshine. Since then it has been her favourite bear and not many night go by without her being at her side. She has many bears and soft toys but this one is special.

She has written her Christmas list already but the only items on it are

A new yellow football

A Lego set

Some new caterpillars for her butterfly kit

And a friend for sunshine

The last is going to be difficult because I assume she wants the same bear with a different colour body.

The giving of bears is a great idea and it definitely cheered my daughter up.”

Via E-Mail

My son, who is 2, was taken into hospital with dehydration following a bad bout of sickness and diarrhoea. Whilst he was at our local hospital (Prince Phillip - Llanelli), he was given, not one, but two of your teddies. Thankfully he is now home and running around demolishing the place again! He kindly donated (! - with a little help from Mummy) one of his teddies to his 3 year old sister who likes to cuddle up with it at night.

My father in law (who sadly died in December 2006), was a member of the Masons, and it feels as though he (the bear) was there looking after Max whilst he was in hospital.

Thank you for setting up this appeal, from both our son and daughter who now have a very lovely bear to cuddle up to at night to remind them, and us, of their Grampy.

Many thanks

I have been working as a Play Specialist in the Paediatric Emergency Department for the past 4 years. My main responsibility is to supervise and deliver play and distraction therapy for the children within the department. I settle the children into the hospital environment by reassuring and relaxing them. As I’ll explain in a moment, the donation of the TLC teddies has made this task much easier.

For many children their visit to the Emergency Department is their first experience in a hospital setting and it is therefore vital to make it a positive one. The children who we treat can be very frightened and are sometimes extremely distressed. They must be able to convey their fears and worries in order for me to help alleviate and overcome these feelings. Communicating effectively with a distressed child can be a problem however and it’s therefore important to use play therapy techniques to converse on their wavelength.

Making things fun for the child is a priority and the TLC teddies play a huge part in this. Medical procedures such as the application of steri-strips or pots for example, are often demonstrated on the teddy first to prepare the child for their forthcoming treatment. It reduces their anxiety and encourages co-operation.

The teddies are also used as a reward for their behaviour and bravery. They act as a positive symbol for the hospital and leave a lasting impression in the child’s mind. Possessing a TLC teddy is a reminder to them that visiting the hospital isn’t so bad.

It is hard for me to explain the effect these wonderful teddies have within our department because the only way we can measure their success is by the change in the child’s emotions. It is no exaggeration to say that a child’s mood and overall perception of their treatment can be completely changed for the better by using the teddies and speaking personally, it truly is a pleasure to watch.

It’s amazing. Something that seems so trivial to us “grown-ups” can have such an impact on a youngster and this wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for the generosity of the Freemasons. I’d like to finish by thanking you on my behalf, and on behalf of the children who these teddies make such a difference to.

Thank you.

Laura Burton

Play Specialist

Hull Royal Infirmary

Just to say a very big thank you to your organisation. My 5 year old son fell and hit his forehead on a pillar yesterday morning and had a terribly deep gash that was bleeding everywhere.

I rushed him to the West Suffolk Hospital A&E Department where he was attended to quickly
but also given a bear in his favourite colour, yellow. He really loved the bear and hugged it throughout a difficult and upsetting morning.
He's put a bandage on the bear's head and took it this morning to the nurse who checked his wound (which is doing fine).

I know that your organisation requires a lot of dedication, hard work and fund raising, but honestly, you're doing a wonderful job.
Thank you Via E-Mail

I just wanted to say Thank You to you for the teddy bear my daughter received at the weekend. Izzy is 2 and had a fall at the weekend resulting in a broken leg, while having her leg put in plaster in a very busy A&E department on a Saturday night, one of the nurses gave her a TLC teddy, in her favourite colour Pink, the teddy has been named Polly after the lovely nurse who looked after us before going up to the childrens ward.

Polly stayed with Izzy all night, and has been a firm favourite by her side since we got home.

It's a great thing to do, and I really do thank you.