Four year old Lorcan McCaffrey has collected 200 trauma teddies to help children facing challenging situations.
Mum, Dolores McCaffrey explained the inspiration behind Lorcan’s initiative. “It all started one night when he was watching a programme on the children’s hospital in Manchester. A policeman came in and gave the little girl a teddy bear. He went up to his bedroom, collected his own bears, put them in a black bag and said, ‘you know mummy I have you and you always buy me bears but there’s other children out there who don’t have bears’.”
The campaign which began in May has accelerated, with drop off points around Enniskillen helping to deal with a surge of teddies making their way to Lorcan. Dolores remarked that it’s been so popular space is getting limited in their home and the end of June will be the cut off.
“Every day he was coming home with bags of teddy bears. Everyone in the community has really got behind him. The Spar shop, Sligo Road, The Bottle Shop at the Village Inn and the Express Laundrette have all got on board as collection points.
“I am so proud of him, to be only four years of age, I can’t believe how much he has done in such a short time. His aim was to collect these for the children who may not have mummy’s or daddy’s to buy them teddies.
“He did keep one teddy for himself, it’s been with him from the day he was born and he’s not ready to give that one up.”
Lorcan is now donating the teddy bears to charities including, Home Start and Action for Children.
“It was his dream to donate some to the police as it that was where the idea first came from. That particular girl on TV had lost her parents in a car accident and the bear was a comfort to her.”
Police in Omagh are currently operating a trauma teddy campaign, with a teddy now kept in every patrol car in Omagh. It is hoped that a similar programme can be introduced in Enniskillen.
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