Players bring cheer to children at Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital
Generous players, staff and sponsors at Dudley Town FC dished out hundreds of pounds of Christmas gifts to poorly children and their families at Russells Hall Hospital.
Members of the club, armed with sacks full of presents, paid a visit to the children's ward to put a smile on the faces of youngsters undergoing treatment.
It is the twelfth year Dudley Town has donated gifts to the ward and this Christmas more than £800 worth of gifts were given away.
Chairman Stephen Austin said: "We want to say a big thank you to all the people who have supported our Christmas toy appeal so that we can go and take presents to children in hospital over Christmas.
"No one likes being ill especially at Christmas and we hope the visit cheered up the children and their families."
The club received additional support from its sponsor training company BCTG and team coach company Cushillo Personnel which boosted the amount of gifts that could be given out.
Mr Austin said: "This year we received an additional £300 from our sponsor Chris Luty at BCTG as well as £100 from team coach Jason Connell at Cushillo Personnel which made a big difference to the amount of presents we were able to hand out."
Chris Luty, BCTG director, added: "BCTG staff have been carrying out random acts of kindness in the run-up to Christmas at BCTG – anything from staff paying for shoppers' parking and giving money to foodbanks to this – it's what Christmas should all be about."
Julie Dale, hospital play specialist, said: "The club has been delivering gifts every Christmas for the past 12 years and we are so very grateful, it's lovely to have them visit the ward and make the children and their families feel special."
