A Second Chance at Joy
- pco
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
A Young Girl’s Heartwarming Gift from TLC Notts.
A pyjama party fundraiser was held for Ward 25 of King’s Mill Hospital, a dedicated paediatric facility for children and young people. The event allows donations to be made to help provide the children on the ward with underwear and pyjamas while they are staying in the hospital.
W Bros Roger Garrett and John Pawlik, the Chairman and Secretary respectively of TLC Notts, who regularly donate their teddy bears to the hospital to be given to children and vulnerable people, attended the party, armed with numerous cuddly Teddies, all looking for their forever homes. All were handed out to gleeful, excited little children, leaving the room filled with squeals of joy and big hugs for their new best friends.
Roger and John were just about to leave and let the party continue, when they were approached by a lady, asking if there were any Teddies left, as she had to take her daughter out of the room while the little cuddly friends had been handed out. Alas, there were none left!!! But Roger wasn’t going this young lady miss out, so he rushed off to his car and returned with a big TLC bear under his arm, who was desperately searching for a little girl in need of a hug by a new best friend nearly as big as she was!! Imagine the size of her smile when she set eyes on him and wrapped her arms around his neck!!
After the day was finished, Roger received the message below from the mother of the little girl who had received her new TLC Teddy.
“Hi Roger,
I hope you are well. We met yesterday at the Pyjama Party Fundraiser for Ward 25, King’s Mill Hospital. I’m the mum of the little girl who you and John gifted the big TLC bear to. We were unfortunately out of the room for the little bears due to a nappy leak and feeding tube mishap during the group photo when we needed to get her changed. You could have just said that they were all gone, but instead you showed the most amazing generosity in giving her one of the big bears. I just wanted to email you to thank you again for your kindness and generosity; you are incredible doing what you do for poorly children in hospital. As a mum who has a poorly child myself, I genuinely appreciate the joy and smiles that the TLC bears bring to such children and I just wanted to share a little bit about my daughter, Maisie, who often ends up spending time in hospital particularly on Ward 25 due to her congenital condition. She has Congenital Hyperinsulinism, with an estimated 1 in 30,000 babies having this disorder. You wouldn’t know it from looking at her, but Maisie has undergone so much in her 2 years; blood tests, lumbar puncture, surgery, central lines, heel pricks for blood glucose levels, daily medication and a severe oral aversion that means she’s fed through a feeding tube. Anyway, back to my point, whenever Maisie has been in hospital for her emergency regimes, sickness, surgeries or tests, she is understandably upset. She has been gifted a few TLC bears from King’s Mill Hospital over multiple admissions and every time it brings a smile to her face. We often have one in the procedure room for when she has cannulas or blood tests because they offer her comfort and a hug. We also show her what we are doing on the bear first so that she sees that teddy is having the same test as what she has. She keeps them on a little shelf in her room at home and each day she’d bring a different one downstairs to play with her for the day. We even keep her blue one in the car for comfort on journeys. The point being that these bears make such a difference to her, and I appreciate that you couldn’t accept our offer for donations, and that’s what makes you all so selfless and honourable. I believe it is very noble of you to have such a wonderful organisation. I’ve attached a couple of pictures of Maisie and her new bear…P.S. she heard her dad and I use your name with bear in the car on the way home and she has now named him Roger Bear”.
Since its inception in 2001, TLC has distributed over 4 million teddy bears to hospitals across England and Wales. Every child who receives a teddy gets to take it home, offering a lasting source of comfort. The initiative is locally managed by Freemasons, who generously donate their time and effort to run the scheme. Funded through donations from Freemasons and their families, many volunteers dedicate hundreds of hours annually to manage the program, deliver bears to hospitals, and raise awareness through events and talks.
We are immensely proud of “Our Charity”, showing that the smallest contribution can make a huge difference to a child, helping them through difficult circumstances and giving them a new friend who can give them big cuddles to help them cope with whatever challenges they may face.
For more information on TLC, please visit:
For more information on Nottinghamshire Freemasons, please visit:
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