Say hello to the new bear in town

Don’t be alarmed if you spot a large brown bear at your local hospital – chances are it is Scrubs, the cuddly new mascot for NHS charity The Health Tree Foundation (HTF).

Scrubs is the furry face of HTF, which is the working name for Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLaG) charitable funds, supporting Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Scunthorpe General Hospital and Goole and District Hospital as well as NHS services in the community.

He will be there to entertain youngsters on the children’s wards, warm the hearts of the Trust’s adult patients, and encourage the communities of Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Goole to raise funds for each hospital.

Scrubs, who wears blue ‘scrubs’ like hospital staff who work in operating theatres, has already enjoyed his first two official engagements.                   

He welcomed guests at the Humber Royal Hotel for The Health Tree Foundation’s first charity fundraiser, the Devil’s Kitchen, which saw teams from Barclay’s Bank and NLaG go head to head in a cook-off challenge to raise donations from the assembled diners.

He also supported the opening of The Entertainer store in Scunthorpe’s The Foundry. Cheering on the hospital’s trolley dashers, he kept spirits up as they raced around the store collecting toys.

Victoria Winterton, partnerships manager for The Health Tree Foundation, said: “Scrubs is just starting out in his charity career and hopes to make as many people as possible smile. It’s a pleasure to welcome him to our team and it’s been great to see him in action already.”

Watch Scrubs surprising colleagues and patients during a walk around Scunthorpe hospital.