Youngsters with family members serving in the Armed Forces at Christmas receive teddy bears from Little Troopers
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YOUNGSTERS with family members serving in the Armed Forces this Christmas have had their festive period brightened up by charity Little Troopers.
Sixty families from RAF Lossiemouth, with a serving person deployed this Christmas, have received a free teddy bear from the military children's charity.
Little Troopers has partnered with the Build-A-Bear Foundation to distribute more than 2200 free teddy bears to military families across the UK as part of its Christmas Smiles campaign.
Debbie Tulip from RAF Lossiemouth said: “Myself and the community support team here are absolutely delighted that we have these lovely teddy bears as we have so many personnel away this Christmas.
"It’s wonderful to be able to bring a little extra Christmas magic to the children at what can be a very difficult time. Thank you to Little Troopers for such a wonderful gesture.”
Louise Fetigan, founder of Little Troopers, added: “It’s always hard for children to have a parent serving away from home but it can be especially hard at Christmas.
"That’s why our annual Christmas Smiles campaign is so important as it brings smiles to the faces of military children who are missing their parent at this important time of year.
“Thanks to the Build-A-Bear Foundation we can remind children that our charity is thinking about them and understands what they are going through when they are feeling lonely or sad.”
The teddy bears are just one of many things that Little Troopers is doing to support military children this Christmas.
The charity has organised free cinema screenings and online events including a Santa show, elf workshops and a Christmas bake-a-long.
Little Troopers has lots of year-round resources that parents and schools can tap into to help support military children including its All Together deployment club, military teen podcast, Therapy Programme and more.
For more information visit www.littletroopers.net
