Nearly 2,000 teddy bears have been delivered to hospitals and other services across Devon this summer, ready to provide a little comfort to children and young people facing difficult or frightening moments.
Between June and the end of August, Devon Freemasons’ Teddies for Loving Care (TLC) provided the bears to locations ranging from children’s wards and minor injury units to the Devon and Cornwall Sexual Assault Referral Centre.
The idea behind TLC is a simple one. A small teddy may not change why a child is in hospital or receiving care, but having something soft and reassuring to hold can make an unfamiliar situation feel a little less daunting.
Among the recent destinations were Torbay Hospital, Derriford Hospital’s Children’s Ward and MRI department, the Cumberland Centre Minor Injury Unit, Kingsbridge Minor Injury Unit and Sidwell Street Walk-in Centre in Exeter.
Teddies have also been delivered to Nuffield Hospital Plymouth and the Devon and Cornwall Sexual Assault Referral Centre.
Getting almost 2,000 bears to where they are needed in the space of three months takes more than simply buying teddies. Behind the scenes, a team of volunteers raises funds, collects supplies and makes deliveries across the county, helping to ensure that hospitals and other services have bears available when they need them.
The scheme is supported by donations from Freemasons across Devon, with recent contributions including donations presented by the Wardens and Active Officers for 2025–26 and by Queen Victoria Lodge.
Those donations ultimately translate into something very tangible: another teddy ready to be handed to a child at a difficult moment.
Teddies for Loving Care has become a familiar part of the charitable work supported by Freemasons in Devon, but its value is perhaps best understood from the perspective of the child receiving one. For them, it is not a fundraising project or a delivery statistic. It is simply a teddy they can hold onto when the surroundings, treatment or circumstances may feel frightening.
With nearly 2,000 distributed across Devon during June, July and August alone, that small gesture of reassurance has reached a great many young people this summer.
Kevin Jones thanked everyone who continues to support the scheme: “Thank you to everyone who supports Teddies for Loving Care — your generosity really does make a difference.”
