The Eastern Area Assistant Charity Steward, Russ Perks recently submitted a application to the ELMC, for a Teddies for Loving Care (TLC) grant for Oldham Hospital Paediatrics Accident & Emergency Department. This was approved and dealt with very quickly by Karen at Hewlett Court. The department is open 24 hours a day providing care for children requiring emergency observation and assessment by the Paediatrics team. The department helps children from multiple areas, which cover the communities of Oldham, Middleton, Heywood and Rochdale.

A hospital visit can be frightening experience for a young child and the Teddies for the Loving Care initiative provides unique cuddly bears to the A&E departments for the medical staff to give to young children to help calm them down or help reduce the shock and distress of their experience, and they can also be used to reward them for being brave.

On 23 May 2024, Russ Perks accompanied by Andy Halford ( Eastern Area Chairman) and Andy Powell (Area Web Designer) made the journey to deliver the teddies to Oldham Paediatrics A&E department. We was welcomed into the department by the staff. The staff said how these teddies will help them to calm down young children who are upset and how one of these teddies was given to her niece at another hospital for a reward of being brave when blood was being taken. She still has her little teddy to this day, and how grateful they was to be thought off and for receiving the Bears and also big thank you to both the ELMC and Eastern Area Freemasons for their kind generosity.

– Russell Perks (Eastern Area Asst Charity Steward)