On Thursday afternoon Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ United first-team players made their annual festive trip to visit patients at Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ Children’s Hospital.
Players including captain Ethan Ampadu, Pascal Struijk, Karl Darlow, Joe Rodon, Junior Firpo, Sam Byram, Alex Cairns, Dan James, Ao Tanaka, Manor Solomon, Willy Gnonto, Brenden Aaronson, Joel Piroe and Joe Rothwell headed to Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ Children’s hospital after training.
During the annual visit, which is extremely special to both the club and hospital, the players spent time handing out some Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ United gifts as well as chatting to young patients and their families, helping to lift spirits of those who are having to spend time in hospital over Christmas.
Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ United winger and Wales international, Dan James spoke to LUTV during the visit:
‘We’re here at the hospital in Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ to see all the children, it’s obviously a time of the year to celebrate but unfortunately for some children they’ll be in here at hospital so it’s nice to be able to see them and put a smile on their face. Quite a few of the children had made us some cards and things which was really lovely, and they were super excited to receive some presents and signed cards, so it was a great afternoon for all of us.’
Neoma Jacobs, Play Specialist at Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ Children’s Hospital, added:
‘I think having visitors at any time of the year is really wonderful but having them around at Christmas time is really special. A lot of the children and young people are not going to be home for Christmas, they’re away from their family and friends and missing out on a lot of social events, so it really adds some cheer. Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ United are obviously our home team, so we have lots of big fans with us in the hospital, so it’s been really wonderful for some of our patients to meet their heroes’
Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ United has a long-standing and incredibly important relationship with Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ Children’s Hospital. Hospital staff expressed their gratitude to the players and support staff from Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ United for making the special visit.