Emergency bears riding with ambulance crews

Teddy bears have been put in every Lincolnshire ambulance to comfort sick and frightened children. The hand-knitted teddies were made and donated by the Christian organisation the Lincoln Diocese Mothers' Union.

The group's members spent months working away with knitting needles to create the soft toys. And now the cuddly characters are at their posts waiting for the first pair of arms to give them a hug.

Lincolnshire Ambulance and Health Transport NHS Trust assistant director of modernisation Tracy Ligema said the group offered to make the bears after hearing of a similar scheme in Yorkshire.

"I think they wanted a cause to focus their efforts towards - and we are so grateful because the result of their work is excellent," she said.
"The teddies have been distributed among ambulance stations to be taken on call-outs where children may be present."

Mrs Ligema said the inside of an ambulance was not a particularly comfortable or welcoming place for a sick or injured child.
"We aim to make them as calm as possible," she said. "For this reason we think the teddies are a great idea - crews can take one or two out with them if they know children are involved in a particular incident."

Ambulance trust chief executive Margaret Serna said: "We are extremely grateful to the Mothers' Union members for this very thoughtful gesture. I am sure that there are many children who will be comforted and reassured by being given one of these teddies at a time that is very stressful for them."

The donation of the teddies to the ambulance service was the brainchild of Mothers' Union Action and Outreach co-ordinator Liz Lilley. Mrs Lilley said she read about another Mothers' Union group making bears for its area's ambulance service and thought it would be a good way to use members' knitting skills. "I put the idea to our members and challenged them to produce 100 teddies," she said. "They responded magnificently and will continue to do so, so that we can keep the Lincolnshire ambulance service supplied with teddies over the months and years to come."

Members also spend their time creating other knitted items for needy children across the area. Another of their regular tasks is to make clothes and blankets for premature babies staying in the special care baby unit at Lincoln County Hospital. "Our members volunteer for good causes in all sorts of ways, but some are housebound and cannot easily do a lot of things," said Mrs Lilley. "So we decided to set them on with knitting and it's going well. We have already handed some clothes and knee rugs to the County Hospital."

[Source: Lincolnshire Echo]