About Love For Little Bears

ABOUT US

You’ve got a friend in us.

We’re the Love for Little Bears Foundation and we help children in hospital to feel a little more special and looked after by giving them a soft snuggly teddy bear to keep them company. 

A bear will always be there.

A stay in hospital can be a lonely and distressing time for a child. Friends and family can’t always be around, and although hospital staff would love to stop by and say hi, sometimes they’re just too busy. We know - because we were those children too. 

So we decided to do what we can to help!

Our Love for Little Bears volunteers visit children’s wards to spend time with the young people, to get involved in running activities and games, to chat and play. And each child will receive a special new friend in one of our soft, snuggly Little Bears.

It’s playtime!

Play provides a sense of relief and precious normality for children who are often unable to access stimulating or fun activities. Although hospitals are becoming more friendly and welcoming environments for children, there is still work to be done. A Quality Care Commission report from November 2017 found that 75% of 8-11 year old children felt that staff played with them and did activities with them a ‘little’ or “not at all”, while 26% of parents and carers for children aged between 0-7 said that staff did not play with their child “at all” and would have liked them too. 

Our fully-vetted volunteers can lend a hand, playing and chatting with children who might not otherwise be visited, helping to maintain their development and wellbeing during a tricky time.

During hospital stays, children may experience periods of separation from their loved ones. Our Little Bears can become helpful transitional objects in these times, “filling the gap” by providing comforting familiarity, softness and warmth, an appealing happy face - even a listening ear! 

How you can help:

We’d be grateful if you could consider donating to our work. Your money will go straight to funding the manufacturing and distribution of our Little Bears, helping us to put a friend into the open arms of as many children as possible. Please click here to donate.

If you would like to join our vetted Volunteer team to help distribute our Little Bears in hospitals around the UK, please click here to fill out a form and a member from the team will get back to you shortly.