First Team Players from Huddersfield Town Football Club (HTFC) recently visited CRH and HRI to spend time with patients and spread a bit of festive cheer.

The team visited our children's departments - including the children's ward, neonatal, outpatients and paediatric A&E at both HRI and CRH last week. They also brought along official HTFC merchandise to give out as Christmas presents. This included woolly hats and mini footballs for the children to play with. The children, their families and our colleagues all loved meeting the players, and for some it was a chance to meet their heroes.

Two First Team players, Danny Ward and Lee Nichols, made a special trip to Ward 18 after hearing that a life-long Huddersfield Town supporter was desperate to meet them. Christopher has been an inpatient on Ward 15 for several weeks now and was delighted when the players came to pay him a special visit (pictured top right).

During their visit, Christopher fondly recalled his years as a season ticket holder and shared stories about former players, including his memories of when the Club's current Ambassador, Andy Booth, played his debut match. The trio shared plenty of laughs and chatted about their upcoming games. Christopher became emotional when Danny and Lee presented him with a Christmas gift, expressing his heartfelt gratitude for the time they spent together. 

Charity Manager, Emma Kovaleski, said: "The smiles we saw throughout the visits from Huddersfield Town 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 the team, players and Rupert Campbell for visiting Calderdale Royal Hospital and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and bringing a little magical sparkle to patients who are sadly in hospital during the festive period. Together, we can make an amazing difference!"