Sunderland knitters create teddies for children caught up in police incidents

Sunderland housing association Gentoo Group is supporting Northumbria Police and Victim’s First’s initiative by donating hundreds of the hand made items.

The scheme, which sees knitted teddy bears stored in police vehicles and handed out to young children when officers respond to incidents, is now being rolled out in Sunderland, Gateshead, North Tyneside and Northumberland following a successful pilot scheme in Newcastle in September.

Many of the children who receive a bear, may never have been in contact with the police before and are often scared and frightened. Whether they have been involved in a road traffic collision, or been missing, a bear can help officers to build trust with a child and calm them.

Gentoo called out to staff, customers, local community groups and volunteers to pick up their knitting needles and help create some knitted teddies for the cause.

More than 350 trauma teddies have now been donated to police, with more still being made.

Lucy Malarkey, Deputy Director (Operations), Gentoo said: “We work closely with Northumbria Police on a number of key agendas, particularly around neighbourhood safety and participating in the Trauma Teddies scheme has provided a great opportunity for staff, customers and volunteers to make a positive difference to their local community.”

“I hope the trauma bears we have donated bring some comfort to the children who receive them.”

Michelle Miller, acting inspector at Northumbria Police said: “We’re really grateful for these teddies and want to thank everyone who got involved, it’s fantastic to see everyone get behind the appeal and we are overwhelmed by the support from our local knitters.

“The response we get from young children when we give them out is very positive.

“It can be incredibly daunting for young children when they see us, especially if they have witnessed a traumatic incident and the teddies just help us offer that extra little bit of comfort and reassurance to them.”

Becky Childs, Children and Young People Coordinator and Restorative Justice Practitioner, Victims First Northumbria, said: “Victims First Northumbria are delighted to receive such generous donations from local knitters.

“The Trauma Teddy appeal aims to unite communities in offering and promoting support to young victims of crime and we have been overwhelmed by the positive response from the public in enabling us to do this.”

Gentoo, Northumbria Police and Victims First are now encouraging the public to get involved and donate a knitted bear to their local police station.