Helping to bring Baggins the Bear to BRI

Bright and friendly wall graphics at Bradford Royal Infirmary welcome children to the ward

Undergoing surgery in hospital can be worrying for anyone but especially so for children. We know, from the work that we’ve done for a number of healthcare settings, that the environment has a huge role to play in reducing stress and reassuring people so when the opportunity arose to help Baggins the Bear do his thing in the children’s ward at Bradford Royal Infirmary, we were only too pleased to get involved.

Introducing Baggins the Bear

You may well be wondering who Baggins the Bear is. Baggins is a friendly teddy bear character that has been created to bring some comfort to children undergoing elective surgery at the hospital. Funded by Bradford Hospitals Charity, children receive their own Baggins teddy bear as well as a booklet that tells the story of Baggins’ experience in hospital and helps them to understand the process. A life-size Baggins the Bear greets the children outside the theatre so they can have their photo taken with him and after their surgery, they receive a Baggins Bravery Certificate to recognise how well they did. You can read more about the Baggins the Bear initiative here.

How Dekko brought Baggins into the ward

We have worked with BRI on many projects and used wall and window graphics in multiple spaces within the hospital to make the environment less clinical, to calm and reassure, and engage people. So, when we were approached about creating a big presence for Baggins on Ward 12, we were delighted to get involved.

We created and installed large format graphics to the walls and doors featuring the bear himself. Not only does this brighten up the space but it also allows Baggins to give the children a warm welcome before they enter the ward and connects to the bear and the booklet that they receive.

All Baggins graphics we supplied were donated FOC to the hospital to show our support for this wonderful initiative.

Senior Sister and Ward 12 Manager, Claire Hall said:

“I just wanted to say how wonderful the Baggins display looks outside Ward 12. It makes a real impact for all to see and is very child-friendly knowing you are approaching a children’s ward. Thank you so much for organising this.”

The work we do in hospitals is always very rewarding, knowing that it’s helping to make what can be a very stressful experience a bit easier for people. However, this one in particular felt really special and we loved bringing Baggins to life.