Bro. Adam Revitt on behalf of the brethren of Conciliation Lodge 3483, presented W.Bro. Keith Bower with a cheque for £300 for Devon Freemasons Teddies For Loving Care…
At their meeting at Freemasons’ Hall in Holsworthy on Monday 5th December 2022, the Senior Warden, Bro. Adam Revitt on behalf of the brethren of Conciliation Lodge 3483, presented W.Bro. Keith Bower with a cheque for £300 for Devon Freemasons Teddies For Loving Care.
In gratefully accepting the donation, W.Bro. Keith said that it was very timely given the challenges faced by the charity in dealing with the rising purchase and shipping costs of the bears, together with a fall in the level of donations received during and following the pandemic.
W.Bro. Keith told the meeting that he had that week received a lovely handmade thank you card from a mother and her child Toby. The child had received a teddy bear in hospital some time ago, but it needed some further ‘TLC’ as it had become the worse for wear and needed washing. Toby couldn’t ‘bear’ to be parted from it even for a short time, and so Keith had sent a stand in replacement. Toby and his mum had replied with thanks and a donation to the charity. Receiving such a letter had, Keith said, made it all worthwhile.
W.Bro. Keith thanked the brethren of Conciliation Lodge for their very kind contribution. The donation from the lodge, he said, was gratefully received and would be faithfully applied.
The meeting at Conciliation Lodge featured a second-degree ceremony following which the brethren sat down to a superb ‘Festive’ Board – in the real sense. A Christmas meal with turkey and all the trimmings, followed by Christmas Pudding and a session of Carol singing by the brethren, all of whom were decked out in their Christmas Cracker hats!
The objective of Devon Freemasons Teddies For Loving Care is to provide cuddly teddy bears to hospitals and other specialist units for medical staff to give, at their discretion, to young children in their care. A visit to hospital can be extremely distressing for a young child and often, that distress extends to their parents or guardians. In many cases offering the appropriate treatment is difficult due to the child’s distress.
The simple idea of enabling accident and emergency unit and other specialist unit staff to improve the quality of their care and the friendliness of their environment by being able to offer severely distressed children a soft teddy bear has been endorsed by those dealing with those distressed children and their parents or guardians.
Devon Freemasons Teddies for Loving Care has most recently operated as a charitable trust registered with the Charity Commission but the initiative in the Province of Devonshire originally began in 2008 with the aim of raising funds from Freemasons in the Province in order to provide a sufficient number of teddy bears to hospitals and specialist units serving the county of Devon.
Today donations of more than 70,000 teddies have been made to 11 hospital accident and emergency units at Derriford, Torbay, Royal Devon & Exeter, and North Devon: and children’s wards, children’s specialist units, children’s hospices’, and adoption courts right across the Province.
The reaction to this simple idea from the recipients, their parents and guardians, the medical staff at hospitals, and anyone who has experienced the fear of a child at an accident and emergency unit is nothing but praise for this simple but appropriate way of relieving distress and suffering. Support and enthusiasm for the initiative continues to grow in the Province of Devonshire.
Donations, on which Gift Aid can be claimed, can be made directly to W.Bro Keith Bower at 9 Golden Close, Brixham TQ5 9QT or via the PayPal Giving Fund UK website using this link https://bit.ly/DFTLC. Amazon will also make a donation themselves if you shop with them but only if you shop using this link https://bit.ly/smile-amazon-DFTLC. These companies do not charge you or the charity fees for any donation. Alternatively, you can use these PayPal or Amazon Smile QR Codes.
Paypal Donation QR Code
Amazon Smile QR Code
Article by: W. Bro. Paul O’Connell, ProvGTreas
Trustee, Devon Freemasons Teddies For Loving Care
Registered Charity in England and Wales No.1190764