The Provincial Grand Lodge of Ayrshire are always looking to give donations on behalf of the Freemasons in Ayrshire to Charities and good causes.
SPGM Bro. Billy Grant became aware of the Teddies for Loving Care (TLC) project in Ireland and thought we could maybe do something similar in Ayrshire.
PGLA decided to support this project where we (PGLA) will donate these Teddies to Crosshouse Hospital and Ayr Hospital Paediatric Emergency Departments (A & E) to allow the nursing staff (at their discretion) to give a bear to a child who may be in excessive pain and / or traumatised while attending the Emergency Department.
It has been proven to work in other parts of the UK to help the child focus on something other than their distress or discomfort and help the nurse gain the confidence of the child. The child keeps the teddy bear.
The child also has a positive feeling of their trip to A & E. This project will be ongoing and is funded by the Freemasons in Ayrshire through PGLA.
The first batches (one box of 72 bears to each hospital) of Teddies for Loving Care were delivered to the hospitals by Bro. Jim Bell PGM and Bro. Billy Grant SPGM on 3rd August 2023.