Leicester City's First Team Pay Special Visit To Leicester Royal Infirmary
- The Leicester City squad headed to Leicester Royal Infirmary on Wednesday
- Each year, the Club visits the hospital to hand out presents in the children's wards
- Jamie Vardy explains why the annual visit means so much to the Club's players and staff
- City's players also donated money to fund two gaming stations at the hospital
Every year, the Foxes squad make the short journey from King Power Stadium to the Leicester Royal Infirmary to spread Christmas cheer during a tough time for patients in the children's wards.
As part of a very special afternoon for everyone associated with the Football Club, the players pay a visit to children who may have to spend Christmas in hospital rather than at home with their families.
As usual, City's stars, The Birch and Filbert arrived with sacks full of presents, including teddy bears, blankets and LCFC merchandise, to hand out on their tour of the hospital's campus.
This year, the players also funded the establishment of specially-designed gaming stations in the children's A&E and outpatients wards to make the experience of staying in hospital more enjoyable.
Leicester City's all-time record Premier League goalscorer Jamie Vardy told LCFC TV: "When we arrived, the doctor and nurses told us that some of the children had not smiled all day.
"But when we've gone in, we've seen some big smiles on the children's faces, so seeing things like that obviously puts smiles on our faces too.
"These visits put everything into perspective and it's great for everyone to spend this time together at Christmas and to hopefully try and make the children's day."
Marc Albrighton, who scored for the Foxes at King Power Stadium on Tuesday night, was also in attendance and echoed Vardy's sentiment, saying this is a day all players look forward to every year.
"We come here every year to see it make people smile and young children smile, it’s the best we can do and it puts everything into perspective," he said.
"This is a time of the year that you want to spend with your families and some of them can’t do that, they’ve got to stay in hospital over Christmas, so you don’t realise how lucky you are until you come here."
The Birch, meanwhile, is a veteran of such events and the Club's much-loved Ambassador added: "If there’s anybody around our Football Club that realises what these fantastic people do, then it’s me because obviously, as every City fan knows, I owe my life to the NHS.
"It’s a brilliant day, I love it, and I hope to be doing it for a few more years."
The Club's annual visit also brings joy to the hospital's staff, who often have to work long, tiring hours at the height of the festive season, treating some of the city's most poorly children.
"I think it’s fantastic for the staff because they work so hard all year round," said Anna Duke, Head of Nursing at University Hospitals of Leicester.
"They work particularly hard in the winter months because more children are sick in the winter.
"It’s really, really busy at this time of year, so it’s nice for the staff to get to meet the players and actually the pleasure that we as staff get out of seeing the children meet the players is incredible.
"For us, anything we can give the children above and beyond the normal everyday things is a real bonus so the donations that the team give is give mean a lot to the children."