Top teams deliver festive fun to young patients

Players from top London football clubs, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, have been spreading a little seasonal fun with some special visits to young patients at Whittington Health.

The clubs have a long-standing tradition of bringing some Christmas cheer to the north London hospital, and this year Tottenham Hotspur players Toby Alderweireld, Thomas Carroll, Vincent Janssen and the Spurs Ladies Team Captain, Jenna Schillaci and Arsenal players, Alexander Iwobi, Chuba Akpom, Kieran Gibbs and Aaron Ramsey, were at the helm – handing out presents and meeting some of the young patients and their parents on the children’s ward.

The players, who brought a range of branded goodies as well as board games and signed merchandise, met a number of young fans who were brought to tears at meeting their idols in person.

Majella Travers, Matron for the acute paediatrics ward, said: “We are hugely grateful to the players for taking the time to visit the children at this special time of year. There was a lot of excitement on the ward and it was lovely to see the look on some our younger patients’ faces – and even some of the parents’ faces too – as they got to meet their heroes in the flesh. Christmas is a special time of year, but for our younger patients it can be very difficult to spend that time unwell and in hospital, that’s why visits like this are so important, and I’d like to thank the clubs and the players for their generosity.”
 
ENDS
For further information please contact communications.whitthealth@nhs.net or 020 7288 3131.
 
Notes to editors 
 
•    Whittington Health is an integrated care trust, delivering acute and community services to over 500,000 people across Islington and Haringey, Camden, Enfield, Barnet and Hackney.
•    In 2014/15 we had 789,350 contacts with patients in the community and over 92,000 people visited our emergency department
•    We have an annual turnover of £295 million and employ over 4,400 staff.