Leeds United players spread festive joy at Leeds Children's Hospital

Leeds United were on hand at Leeds Children’s Hospital on Thursday afternoon, as first-team players made their annual festive trip to visit as many children and young people currently receiving care as possible.

The players, which included 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 the city centre-based hospital after training on Thursday, visiting a number of different families and nurses across various busy wards.

During the annual visit, which is extremely special to both the club and hospital, the players spent lots of time handing out Leeds United gifts and signing autographs, as well as chatting to all of the young patients and their loved ones, helping to lift the spirits of those who are having to spend time over the festive period in hospital, with many of them spending long periods of time there which will continue into the New Year.

Leeds United winger and Wales international, Dan James, spoke to LUTV about the heart-warming visit: “We’re here at the hospital in Leeds 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 so it’s nice to be able to see them, give them some presents, and put a smile on their face.

Defender Sam Byram added: “It’s a tough time for the kids and the parents that are in hospital over Christmas, so it’s just a way of trying to do our bit, and also thank the staff as well because they do an amazing job as well this time of year.”

Neoma Jacobs, Play Specialist at Leeds Children’s Hospital, said: “I think having visitors any time of the year is really wonderful but having them around 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.

“Leeds 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.”

Leeds United has a long-standing and incredibly important relationship with Leeds Children’s Hospital, which is one of this country's leading children’s hospitals. As always, it was a special experience for all involved to help spread some much-needed festive joy during what can be an extremely difficult time over Christmas for these young people and their families.