Hooray! The ‘Luistermuizen’ exist for over 18 years already.
04 July 2022
What once started as a personal experience is now a big gesture for many children in hospitals. Rita has been making her famous Listening Mice for almost 20 years that have helped hundreds of children through a difficult time in the hospital. Whether it is the children themselves who are in the hospital or a family member, in both cases the cuddly toys have been proven to be very effective. Some children prefer to talk safely to a stuffed animal in their own way.
The idea arose when her own daughter suffered a traumatic experience at a young age during a medical treatment. She couldn't talk about this openly and crawled into her shell. Until the moment Rita heard her speak softly to a stuffed animal about her experiences. Here Rita saw an opportunity to help more children with safe and handmade stuffed animals called the Listening Mice.
We have been sponsoring Rita Bode's volunteer work for about 10 years now. Rita receives many different safe cotton fabrics suitable for children. She makes various Listening Mice at her own insight, but she also sews beautiful other cuddly toys to decorate our showroom in Oss.
Around 8000 Listening Mice have already been donated to children in hospitals. The first stuffed animals were donated in the Sint Franciscus hospital in Rotterdam, the Langeland hospital in Zoetermeer and in the oncology department in the Erasmus hospital in Rotterdam. In this very moment, the pediatric oncology department has moved to the Princess Maxima Center in Utrecht. In addition to listening mice, also premature baby outfits, hats and probe pouches are donated at the Isala hospital in Zwolle.
Keep up the good work, Rita!