On Monday 16 December, members of the Huddersfield Town First Team squad visited Calderdale Royal Hospital and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary to deliver festive gifts and to spend time with children and staff ahead of Christmas.
First Team players who visited Huddersfield Royal Infirmary delivered bags full of presents from the Club Shop, whilst signing autographs, taking pictures, and helping lift spirits of children in Paediatric A&E as well as in the Paediatric Outpatients Department.
Different members of the First Team visited Calderdale Royal Hospital and delivered presents to the Neonatal Ward, the Children's Ward and to the children in A&E.
Two First Team players, Danny Ward and Lee Nichols also visited Ward 18 at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary to spend quality time with an inpatient named Christopher. During their visit, Christopher fondly recalled his years as a season ticket holder and shared stories about former players, including his memories of Andy Booth's debut match. The trio shared plenty of laughs and chatted about their upcoming game on Friday. Christopher became emotional when Danny and Lee presented him with a Christmas gift, expressing his heartfelt gratitude for the time they spent together.
Huddersfield Town Club Ambassador, Andy Booth, said: "Christmas can be a difficult time for families who spend time in hospital, so it's great that we can go hand out presents and spread a little bit of joy to the children and their parents, as well as the staff who work in the hospital.
"The players do a fantastic job putting smiles on children's faces every year, and they really brightened the families' day this year - so a massive thank you to all of them and to all of the staff at the hospital for being so accommodating.
"Merry Christmas to everyone from all at Huddersfield Town."
Head of CHFT Charity, Emma Kovaleski, said: "Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Charity really appreciate the ongoing support from Huddersfield Town that has continued over a number of years now.
"It's really heartwarming to see that when two large organisations come together, we can really impact our local communities. The smiles we saw throughout the visits from Huddersfield Town on Monday were magical, from both the players and patients, especially during a challenging time.
"This year, we were able to extend Town's visit to Paediatric Outpatients where the players were able to play a game of football with a little girl who had just got her bloods taken and onto NICU where the tiniest of babies are looked after.
"We'd like to say a big thanks to all of team, players and Rupert Campbell for visiting our hospitals and bringing a little magical sparkle to patients who are sadly in hospital during the festive period. Together, we can make an amazing difference!"
