MORE than 200 'trauma teddies' have been knitted and crocheted for children across Forth Valley.

Resonate Together’s Knitters Club and the Forth Valley RSVP Knitters teamed up to deliver the soft toys which will be used by the emergency services.

Firefighter Iain Underhill, from Central Safe Drive Stay Alive, received the collection from representatives of both groups.

He said: "Trauma teddies are kept in emergency service vehicles to distract and comfort children who are hurt or otherwise traumatised.

"The need for teddies is ongoing as they are given to the child to keep and this donation will be divided between the different services in Forth Valley to ensure that they are always available."

The idea for the collection came about during this year’s Safe Drive Stay Alive event.

Melanie Mitchell, Central Safe Drive’s treasurer, said: "Some of the guys were talking about how they were running low on trauma teddies.

"I immediately thought of the knitters at Resonate in Alloa where I work and when I spoke to them about it they were happy to help.

"A later conversation with Linda Strachan from RSVP knitters resulted in a large donation from them too."

Alan Faulds, chairperson of Central Safe Drive, welcomed the move from the groups.

He said: "While Safe Drive is predominately a road safety initiative many of our volunteers are emergency service personnel who have seen the benefit that trauma teddies provide when dealing with young children so we are very happy to be involved in this collection."

Resonate is a profit for good enterprise in North Castle Street, Alloa.

The Knitting Club meets every Wednesday from 10am to 11.30am and new members are always welcome.

Angela Watt, Resonate’s founder and chief executive, praised the work of the emergency services.

She said: "When I was six years old, I was involved in a car crash and went through the window screen of the car.

"The ambulance staff who saved my life were so very supportive and came a few days later to intensive care to visit me.

"The work of the emergency services are vital and without their work and amazing ethos, I would not be here today."

In addition to projects like the Trauma Teddy Project, the Resonate team recently launched their YouTube channel, Resonate Together Scotland, with two films.

They released the Place of Kindness with Carnegie UK and The Alloa 500 which describes Angela’s fundraising bike ride, which started today (Wednesday), covering 500 miles of beautiful Scottish scenery over five days.

The intention is to make this an annual event attracting cyclists who are looking for an original challenge, bringing tourism and a welcome boost to the local economy, as well as providing an excellent fundraising opportunity for charities and community groups.