Nottinghamshire Police welcome teddy bear recruits to help children in distress

The cuddly toys have been donated by Teddies for Loving Care (TLC), a charity set up to support young children who find themselves in traumatic incidents involving emergency services.

Police will use them to help calm children down or reward them for being brave in stressful situations such as road traffic collisions.

Graham Riche, chairman of Teddies for Loving Care Nottinghamshire, said: “We have been working for some time with the hospitals and emergency treatment centres across Nottinghamshire and are delighted we are now able to support the police as well.

"To date 55,000 bears have been issued in Nottinghamshire and three million across the UK.

TLC is funded by Freemasons, their families and supporters and the charity has 47 regional programmes across England and Wales.

Deputy Chief Constable Steven Cooper said: “I am delighted to be able to welcome these cuddly new recruits to Nottinghamshire Police and would like to thank everyone at TLC for their support and generosity.

“Our officers are already well-prepared for dealing with all manner of traumatic incidents, including those involving children, but will now have an extra tool at their disposal to help them respond in the most appropriate way.”