Police force’s cuddly side
Chief Insp Nicola Wearing, Victims First Northumbria’s Ruth Parke and dog handler PC Ritchie Davies with pupils at Brunton First School launching the ‘trauma teddies’ scheme POLICE will carry teddy bears in their cars to comfort children they meet on their patrols.
Northumbria Police has armed its officers with special ‘trauma teddies’ designed to help vulnerable youngsters that come into contact with police as they respond to incidents.
The hand-knitted cuddly toys have been provided by the charity Victims First Northumbria, and will be used by officers in the force’s Central Command, which covers Newcastle and Gateshead,
The idea was inspired by firefighters in Australia, who gave children teddy bears as they fled the bush fires that had destroyed all of their belongings.
And similar schemes have been launched by the Red Cross – which hands them out to children living in poverty and child refugees – and by a handful of police forces across the UK
Now Victims First Northumbria has collected around 35 hand-knitted teddies to provide to Northumbria Police to hand out to children in the region.
The charity has also produced a number of colouring books to hand out to children along with the teddies.
Chief Insp Nicola Wearing said: “We have seen this scheme introduced in various different formats around the world and thought it was a great way to comfort some of the many young people we come across in our daily duties.
“Many of the children we come into contact with are scared, frightened and have never had any contact with the police before so they are particularly vulnerable.
“Our officers are fantastic at comforting these young children but these schemes have already proven that giving a child a teddy bear can help to bring them an extra bit of comfort.
“They could be children who have been involved in a collision on our roads, are at the centre of a domestic incident or who have been victims of crime themselves.
“We want to do everything that we possibly can to ensure that those children we do come into contact with have all the support and help that we can possibly provide to them.
“Victims First Northumbria has coordinated the.collection of the bears and volunteers from across the region have already been kind enough to donate some toys.
“I want to thank everyone who has supported this scheme as it could really make a difference and help young and vulnerable people in this region feel safe.”
Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Vera Baird added: “I very much welcome this initiative to Northumbria. It recognises the effect a traumatic experience can have on a child and such a simple gesture is a step towards making a child’s experience less painful.
“Our officers sometimes have to attend devastating road traffic accidents or are called out to domestic incidents where a child has witnessed frightening scenes which result in seeing someone they know, and even love, being taken away.
“A teddy won’t fix things but if it can help officers distract a child from what’s happening and offer them some comfort. I’m very thankful to everyone who has donated these bears – they will make a difference.”
And Ruth Parker, chief executive of Victims First Northumbria, said: “Victims First Northumbria is an essential service that offers care and support to victims of crime in the Northumbria area and this includes support to children and young people.
“We are always looking for ways to enhance our support and offer the best possible care to people. Victims First staff were aware of the positive impact of the trauma teddies in other areas and felt passionate about launching this in Northumbria.
“We are grateful to all of the support groups who have donated teddies and are continuing to produce them in their own time. We hope that this will provide much-needed support to children in their time of need.”
Northumbria Police patrol cars will start carrying the ‘trauma teddies’ from tomorrow but the scheme was be officially launched at Brunton First School in Newcastle last week.
Pupils at the school, in Great Park, near Gosforth, have named a selection of the bears and handed them over to Northumbria’s police pups and the police cadets.
Headteacher Gill McKay said: “It was great to be able to be involved in the launch of this scheme and our children have relished being able to name the bears.
“It is great to have the police come into our school and talk to the children about what they do. Engagement opportunities like this show the children that police are just normal people that they can trust and hopefully gives them confidence to talk to them if they ever need their help.”
The teddy bears were knitted by volunteers at organisations across the force area. They include Victims First Northumbria, Victims First Victim Advisory Group, Tyneside & Northumberland Mind, Police Cadets in North Tyneside and Newcastle Central, People’s Animal Rescue and Rehoming Team, Eastern Star Ladies, Elim Church Group, Girl Guiding Newcastle and Trefoil Guild, Northumbria Police Disclosure Unit, Knit and Natter Wallsend and Knit Studio in Blackfriars, Newcastle.
Victims First and the police are encouraging members of the public to get involved and donate a knitted bear to the scheme.