Who doesn’t like a cuddle!
Warwickshire Freemasons have donated over £16,000 to purchase a 'cuddle bed' to Marie Curie Hospice.
A Cuddle Can Make All the Difference. Who doesn’t love a cuddle? For many, it’s the simplest and most comforting expression of love. But for some families, a cuddle can mean the world — especially when saying goodbye far too soon.
The Cuddle Cot initiative began from a deeply touching encounter. Warwickshire Freemason Den Brown was moved when his wife’s best friend shared her compassionate work — knitting tiny clothes for babies born asleep. Her quiet dedication inspired Den to think about how more could be done to support families facing such heartbreaking loss.
With the guidance and coordination of Ade Harvey, six kind-hearted volunteers joined together to knit clothes and blankets for these babies. Their goal soon grew: to raise enough money to purchase two Cuddle Cots — special cooling systems that allow families extra precious time to say goodbye.
Thanks to the incredible support of the Warwickshire Freemasons Charitable Foundation (WFCF), who donated £4,000, the group’s dream has become reality. Two Cuddle Cots have now been presented to Good Hope and Heartlands Hospitals, with thanks also to Laura and Elle from the University Hospitals Birmingham Charity for helping coordinate the donation.
The photographs show Warwickshire’s Deputy Provincial Grand Master David Butcher with Den Brown, Ade Harvey, and Tracy, a specialist bereavement nurse at Good Hope Hospital.
Following this touching success, Warwickshire Freemasons and Jephson Lodge No. 4336 have gone even further — donating £16,305 to enable the Marie Curie Hospice in Solihull to purchase a Cuddle Bed for terminally ill patients receiving palliative care.
Imagine facing a terminal illness and simply wishing to lie beside your loved one for a final cuddle. Sadly, many hospice beds are too small to allow such closeness — a reality that Trevor Scott-Worthington experienced when his beloved wife Glenys was cared for at the Marie Curie Hospice.
Determined that others should not be denied that precious comfort, Trevor, with the support of Jephson Lodge No. 4336, the WFCF, and the Warwickshire Knights Templar Priest, helped fund a new cuddle bed.
The bed has been named “The Glenys E. Scott-Worthington Memorial Bed” — a lasting tribute to her memory. A plaque now sits proudly on the bed, which, just one day after its arrival, was already being used by a family sharing their own precious moments of closeness.
These initiatives remind us all that sometimes the smallest gestures — a knitted blanket, a gentle hug, a few extra moments together — can mean everything.