Accrington Stanley’s players tried to spread a bit of Christmas cheer with their annual visit to the Royal Blackburn Hospital yesterday.
The squad visited the children’s ward to chat to the kids, parents and staff after they had finished training.
They also distributed signed Stanley merchandise and Christmas presents provided by the Stanley Community Trust and the official supporters’ club.
“It’s nice to be able to do things like this and see the kids smiling when we walk in,” said captain Seamus Conneely. “They’re always a little bit intrigued about what you’re bringing and what is in the bags and their faces light up when they pick out something that they like.
“There’s also sadness too, seeing kids in hospital and especially at this time of year but from speaking to quite a few of them and their parents they seem to be in good spirits and are fairly confident they’ll be out for Christmas, which was nice to hear.
“I’m sure it’s nice for the parents too, to see their kids smiling in tough times. Anything we can do to give something back to the community we’ll try and do.
“Accrington is a very community based club and we’re happy to do anything we can to help that. Anything we can do in the community can only increase interest in what we’re doing as a club and a team. The club is looking to make the match day experience more family friendly so we’re trying to let people know what we’re doing and hopefully help out in the process.”
