"It is beautiful," says Lesley Harper about the look on a child's face when they were given a Trauma Teddy to hold and cuddle.
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It would be hard to count the number of children who in a time of crisis took comfort from a Trauma Teddy made by members of the Milton Ulladulla Branch of the Red Cross.
Their teddies have been sent all over the country to help give children some comfort.
Many of the handmade teddies stay in the local area as well.
Most of the teddies, before they are sent away, end up in the hands of Trauma Teddy "finisher" Lesley Harper.
Lesley from her Ulladulla home tries to finish at least five teddies a day.
She has been a member of the Red Cross for 15-years and part of the Trauma Teddy program for 14-years.
"I first realised the importance of the Trauma Teddy program about eight or so years ago when we set up our first evacuation centre," she said.
"We had a bushfire and we set up an evacuation centre at the old RSL Club.
"We had about 120 people in there overnight because the roads were shut and a lot of those people were kids
"We gave them [the children] all a Trauma Teddy - they were used as pillows at night and something to play with the next day."
She then goes on to describe what it was like for the children to get a Trauma Teddy.
"You could see it [getting a Trauma Teddy] took all the stress away from the kids," she said.
"You could see this in their faces - from when they came in they were confused, hot and smoky . They were frightened and had no idea what was going on."
Lesley is also a member of the branch's emergency service team.
Teddies have been sent to flood-ravaged places like Lismore and Central West NSW and given to people grieving lost loved ones in the Hunter Valley bus tragedy.
"We have been since asked to supply 200 plus teddies because they were having a memorial up there [the Hunter Valley]," Lesley said
She said even adults are given Trauma Teddies to help with their grief.
Qantas wanted 100 Trauma Teddies when they were bringing people back from Palestine and Israel during the recent crisis.
Teddies were also sent over to the Solomon Islands in care packages for babies.
The Red Cross head office receives the requests for teddies and the word is sent down the line and Milton Ulladulla Branch of the Red Cross responds.
Teddies come to Lesley in a "flat-pack" and she then takes charge of the finishing product.
"We have a lot of people who knit for us in this area," she said about how and where the flat packs come from
She added many of the knitters were elderly and collecting Trauma Teddy flat-packs from them gives the Red Cross the chance to check on their welfare.
The group also gets a lot of donations of wool and filling for the teddies.
The Red Cross often hears from people who say - "I got a Trauma Teddy from you years ago and I still have it".
"Such a little thing can mean so much," Lesley went on to explain about the beauty of a Trauma Teddy.
Milton Hospital will receive most of the latest batch of around 120 teddies.
Summertime means more people in the area and the hospital's emergency section gets busy and they like to have a stock of teddies there ready to give to the sick kids.
Lesley loves making teddies and helping children.
She wanted to pay tribute to one of her knitters, Heather Kelso, who recently passed away.
Last month, Lesley got Heather's last lot of teddies.
"Heather knitted right up until the end," Lesley said.
Lesley said they were always asking people if they wanted to help and knit teddies.
People can call Lesley on 0419 239 456 or Trauma Teddy Coordinator Jane Milojevic 0417 062 007 to get more information about knitting or making donations of wool.
