When a child is traumatised due to a situation whether it be physical abuse, mental abuse, witnessing a death or a crime, they often feel comforted by a familiar face that lets them know they are not alone.

Since February 14, 1992 "Winston'' has come to the aid of about 100 Bermudian children.

He has stopped their tears, warmed their hearts and even put them to sleep.

He's a teddy bear lovingly known as "Winston on Patrol''.

Based on an idea which began in the late 1960s, a group of friends in the Fergus-Elora area of Ontario raised money to be used in a unique way.

Teddy bears were proposed to be placed in each of the vehicles of the Ontario Provincial Police including their snowmobiles, boats and cars. When responding to an emergency situation, these bears would be given to children to provide comfort and support.

On January 1, 1990, the Good Bears of the World Canada came into being with the mandate to establish Dens and Members-at-Large across the country to bring the comfort of the teddy bear to kids in distress. Mrs. Jan Smith established the local Den 8 Ambassadors of Bear-muda with members in the US, Canada and Bermuda which brought "Winston'' to life.

"My sister gave me a subscription to the Canadian Living Magazine,'' Mrs.

Smith said, "And I happen to see an article on Lee Wansbrough who devoted his time to teddy bears and children.

"During that time I was reading, in the local newspapers, about domestic problems with kids, and physical abuse etc. and I thought that having these bears to give out to traumatised children would be a good idea for the Island so I wrote and got all the information.'' Mrs. Smith added that she discussed the idea with Corporation of Hamilton secretary Roger Sherratt and "he thought it was a great idea''.

"I then formed a teddy bear den called Ambassadors of Bear-muda Den 8. I have 15 members and they come from Maine, Toronto, Halifax, New Hampshire and Bermuda.

"They pay for membership every year and that goes towards buying the bears.

The main point is the kids and they believe in the cause.'' Mrs. Smith said she named the teddy bears -- which are manufactured by a cottage industry operated by Quakers in Canada -- after Winston Churchill because "he was round and cuddly and had a good sense of humour''.

"The Police Department has said the bears have really helped the officers when they are dealing with children. They used to buy kids sodas and chocolate bars to settle them down but now they do not have to.'' She added: "The bears do a lot for them. These kids get involved in situations that cause trauma whether it be a car accident, if they are lost, sexually abused, physically abused, and we have had a couple of incidents of near drownings and one child was bitten by a dog.

"All of a sudden they are in a situation where they are involved with Police and nine times out of ten they are in pain, sometimes bleeding and they are just scared out of their wits.'' Mrs. Smith also said: "All of us can relate to teddy bears so the Police will give a teddy bear to these kids. It calms them down almost immediately because it is familiar. And calming the child down helps the Police get to the matter at hand.'' She also said that even in her own experience as an adult 20 years ago she was involved in an accident and someone sent her a teddy bear. "It made me realise that someone really cared. I have given the Police, probably over the course of three years, 100 teddy bears. We average 20-25 a year. This year has been good because we have given out only 10.'' One situation that sticks out most in her mind was when a bear was given to some children involved in a bus accident.

"One kid who was known to be quite rambunctious seemed to calm right down after he was given a teddy bear. These kids are so traumatised in these situations and so scared they hang onto the bears for dear life and in some cases the officers have to get the child to sleep before they can take them away. The kids do get to keep the bear free of charge.'' Mrs. Smith added that these bears are made especially for traumatised children and cannot be found in any toy store.

"Their noses and eyes cannot be chewed out and their coats are made out of hypo-allergenic material which can be washed in a machine.''