Knit teddies for children's clinic

That was the plea made by South African Gordon Forrester who was a guest of Bexhill Lions club.

He told members about the work of the Krugersdorp Lions Club in supporting the Teddy Bear Clinic which counsels abused children around Johannesburg.

Mr Forrester said: "Around 500 children are abused in our area every month, and each child taken to the clinic is given a teddy bear to hold and keep, in an attempt to alleviate some of the trauma that the child faces. The child has been abused - and then in addition to the abusive act, they are further traumatised when they have to report the matter to different socio-legal departments such as medical, police, welfare, counsellors etc.

"Of the kids abused, 85% are sexually molested or raped, 50% of the girls that are raped are under the age of 12 years, and 50% of them are raped by children of their own ages. This is a phenomenon that seems to be fuelled by the urban legend that if a man or boy has intercourse with a virgin or a young girl, he will become immune to AIDS."

He added: "Our Lions club has two projects running in tandem. Firstly, the club arranges with a number of retired ladies to knit, stuff and sew teddy bears for our project. Secondly we gather and distribute the teddy bears to the clinics. In the past 18 months, we have produced approximately 1,000 teddy bears. However with a need for 500 bears a month, there is a serious shortfall in supply. This is where I ask - Bexhill, please help."

Local knitters are responding to the appeal according to Avril Earnshaw of the local branch and batches of teddy bears have been sent off.

But Avril hopes more knitters will come forward and said: "If people want to help they can call me for the pattern. It's so simple, even I can do it. Most people say they already have spare wool, but if they need wool too, that's fine. I don't want to put anyone under pressure but if they have done it already I would like to see if they can do it again."

If you can help with knitting, or financial support, or wool, please contact organiser Avril Earnshaw on 01424 225453, or Bexhill Lions on 0845 833 9591.