Image gallery and reaction, as members of the first team squad visit Royal Bolton Hospital
Members of the Bolton Wanderers first team squad helped to spread the festive cheer on Tuesday afternoon by visiting children at Royal Bolton Hospital who won't be spending Christmas at home this year.
Whilst Jay Spearing led eight of his team mates to the E5 children’s ward at Royal Bolton Hospital, Zat Knight, Stuart Holden and a handful of other players visited Derian House Childrens’ Hospice in Chorley to hand over gifts and donations. At the same time, another group of players including Tim Ream and Darren Pratley visited Bolton Hospice to spend time with those visiting the facility on Chorley New Road for respite care.
Accompanying Jay Spearing to Royal Bolton Hospital was Jermaine Beckford, Neil Danns, Chung-Yong Lee, Chris Eagles, Rob Hall, Alex Baptiste and Mark Davies.
The group of players spent the afternoon on E5 putting smiles on the faces of the children and their families and helping to bring some Christmas cheer to the ward by handing out individual gifts for those youngsters spending the festive period in hospital.
The group of players spent the afternoon on E5 putting smiles on the faces of the children and their families and helping to bring some Christmas cheer to the ward by handing out individual gifts for those youngsters spending the festive period in hospital.
The players also delivered presents for the main play areas including computer games, electronic learning toys, DVDs and a large selection of interactive, sensory and educational play items as chosen by play specialists at the hospital.
At the end of their visit, the players were shown around the impressive facility that services the residents of Bolton and were also able to meet and thank the staff who work so tirelessly all year round.
Jay Spearing said: “We always enjoy coming down to the hospital at Christmas time - it's great to see the children’s faces light up when we walk in and it's fantastic to be able to give them a bit of a boost.
"It's not an easy time but it's nice that we can help lift spirits in some small way; it really does put everything into perspective and it makes you realise how lucky we all are."