Governor of South Australia, his Excellency the Honourable Hieu Van Le AC and Mrs Le hosted a garden reception at Government House Adelaide on the 15th of November to recognise and acknowledge those organisations that have brought significant benefits to the community.
Gentle Bear, along with Josh Newberry, Ian Brookson, Allyce Walding and Tennielle Baron attended in representation of Gallagher Bassett.
Governor Le made a speech at the beginning of the afternoon in which Gentle Bear was acknowledged as one of the programs which they are closely and formally associated with.
This year, in South Australia, Gentle Bear has supported a number of causes, including Housing South Australia in an effort to provide comfort to children who are affected by homelessness as a result of domestic violence; Salvation Army’s Bramwell House, which provides short term, supported crisis accommodation for single women and children escaping domestic violence; Virginia Primary School and the Red Cross volunteers at the Virginia Recovery Centre.
Gentle Bear came in to existence through collaboration between GB and a valued client as GB was doing work for the South Australia Police Department and exploring ways to minimise Post Traumatic Stress.
GB proposed the idea of sponsoring teddy bears that could be carried in police and other emergency vehicles and handed out to young children involved in events such as serious road traffic accidents and domestic violence.
The teddy bear serves as an emotional aid to distract a child’s attention from the immediate, distressing situation by providing a recognisable, reassuring and safe object to latch on to.
This year Gentle Bear celebrated his 10th birthday. Some of his friends say 'Happy Birthday' in the below video.
