Northampton Freemason Gary Swailes was having an afternoon catch up with his sister-in-law when he mentioned “Teddies for Loving Care”. “TLC” as it is known, is a countrywide Masonic Charity who's sole purpose is to provide much needed comfort to children attending Accident & Emergency units, children's wards and other services by making sure that staff can give every child a teddy to help alleviate their distress.
Gary’s sister-in-law, Roz who works in the Paediatric Clinic at Stamford Hospital, was intrigued as she had never heard of TLC or the wonderful work they do so she went off to investigate herself. Roz eventually spoke to one of the Northamptonshire & Huntingdonshire Freemasons Leadership Team, Francis Margot who has the responsibility of overseeing the TLC initiative. Francis arranged for the first batch of Teddy’s to be delivered to Roz and the team at the Stamford Paediatric Clinic.
TLC is a wonderful example of Freemasons supporting their communities. Very soon TLC will be celebrating the four millionth Teddy delivered nationally (which happened on the 7th September). Northamptonshire & Huntingdonshire Freemasons deliver around two thousand five hundred Teddies to local hospitals and clinics each quarter. This is something that all local Freemasons can be extremely proud of and this story proves the benefits of talking about they do! Thanks to a proud member telling his sister-in-law Freemasons have been able to bring a small amount of comfort to even more children.
Discover more about TLC: