Lancashire players visit to help spread festive cheer

Players, coaches and staff from Lancashire County Cricket Club visited the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital on Wednesday afternoon to help spread some Christmas cheer as they dropped off presents for the children.

Led by Captain Steven Croft, the Lancashire squad took time out of their busy winter training schedule to visit children on each of the hospital's wards and hand out some early Christmas gifts that were kindly donated by the Stretford branch of Tesco.

Steven said: "The lads have been really looking forward to visiting Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and meeting some of the children, especially after our visit last year which all the players really enjoyed.

"The staff at the hospital work tremendously hard all year round and we are delighted that we are able to spread a bit of cheer at this time of the year.

I've done these visits for the last couple of years. I now have a child of my own and I couldn't imagine being in the situation those parents are. I have nothing but respect for kids, the parents and all the staff that work at the hospital.”

Sarah Naismith, Head of Charities at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital  Charity added: “We were delighted to welcome the cricketers to our hospital to meet some of our young patients and help spread some festive cheer. Unfortunately there will be many children who will be spending the Christmas period in hospital, so visits like this really do make a huge difference in brightening their day. I’d like to say a big thank you to Lancashire County Cricket Club for taking time out of their busy schedules and thinking of us at this time of year.”

For more information about the LCCC Foundation, the charitable arm of Lancashire County Cricket Club, please visit www.lcccfoundation.co.uk

Check out pictures from their visit!