Lancashire squad visit The Christie Hospital to spread some Christmas joy
Lancashire squad visit The Christie Hospital to spread some Christmas joy
Eight Lancashire players and coaches visited The Christie Hospital in Manchester on Thursday afternoon to spread some festive cheer ahead of the Christmas period.
The Lancashire squad took time out of their busy winter training schedule to visit patients and family members on the hospital's wards and hand out some early Christmas gifts that were kindly donated by the East Didsbury Tesco Superstore.
It’s the first time the Lancashire squad have visited The Christie Hospital, which is now one of the largest cancer treatment centres of its kind in Europe which treats over 44,000 patients a year, having previously visited the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital over the last few years.
The squad handed out mince pies and chocolates to patients and families across the hospital, including the Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy wards.
Lancashire all-rounder Steven Croft said: “Coming to places like this means a lot to us and we’re very proud to play our part in the local community.
“As a cricketer, we’re in a privileged position and hopefully we’ve spread some Christmas spirit at a difficult time of the year for not only patients, but also their families.
“With a family myself, it’s heart-breaking to see what people are going through, and particularly those that will be in the hospital over Christmas. All we can hope is that we’ve come down and put a smile on their faces at a time they need it most.”
Roger Spencer, Chief Executive of The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We were delighted to welcome some of the players from Lancashire Cricket Club to The Christie on Thursday afternoon.
“They joined us to hand out mince pies and gifts to patients and staff which were very well received. Christmas can be a challenging time for some of our patients and so this was a welcome distraction and a much-appreciated visit.”
