In 2014, the Novo mesto Police Directorate designed the project Pads of Comfort, aimed at alleviating the distress of children who find themselves in police procedures, including for domestic violence.

The pads consist of two hand-stitched flower appliqués made of colorful fabric. They are made without the use of a sewing machine, in the patchwork technique. The basis is 14 hexagons, which symbolically represent the sign of the police.

The hand-sewn pads are much more than a piece of fabric; they are intended for children who witness or are involved in events handled by police officers (domestic violence, traffic accidents, violent crime, violations of public order, suicides, etc. ) or children who are sad, injured or scared. The purpose of the project is for the police officers to give the pads to children at such events and in this way try to ease the painful experience for the youngest. By doing this, they let the children know that they can be trusted and that they can always seek help from the police officers.

It takes two thousand stitches and a lot of goodwill to create a pad of comfort

The initiator of the project is Stanislava Zupanc, a police officer from the Dolenjske Toplice Police Station. Her wish was that the pad, which would be a comfort to children and could accompany them in difficult moments, would symbolize invisible connections and thus weave threads between people and make the public aware that the police are here to help. In the pads lies the good will and kind-heartedness of Slovenian policewomen for children who find themselves in any kind of police procedures.

The pads were first made over several months by employees of the Novo mesto Police Directorate, and later they passed on their knowledge of making them to other police officers across Slovenia who are driven by concern for their fellow man.

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