Players pay visits to local children's wards

Our players visited five local hospitals today (Thursday 21 December) to deliver presents and spread festive spirit in the children’s wards.

The annual visits saw members of our first team squad, as well as players from the Spurs Ladies side, spread some joy during this tough time of year for patients and families.

Players dropped into the wards at Barnet, Whittington in Archway, North Middlesex University Hospital in Edmonton, Whipps Cross in Leytonstone and Princess Alexandra in Harlow.

Handing out presents at Barnet were Moussa Sissoko, Georges-Kévin Nkoudou, Victor Wanyama and Sarah Wiltshire, while Mousa Dembele, Christian Eriksen, club captain Hugo Lloris and Spurs Ladies captain Jenna Schillaci stopped by at Whittington.

In attendance at North Middlesex were Toby Alderweireld, Juan Foyth, Jan Vertonghen and Bianca Baptiste, whilst Harry Kane visited Whipps Cross, where he was born, with team-mates Paulo Gazzaniga, Kyle Walker-Peters and Spurs Ladies player Maya Vio.

Above: Christian, Hugo, Jenna and Mousa hand over some signed 2018 Spurs calendars to two young fans at Whittington.

In Harlow, Michel Vorm, Anthony Georgiou, Kazaiah Sterling and Renee Hector spent time helping young patients unwrap their gifts.

Jan Vertonghen at North Middlesex said: “We do it every year – it’s a great initiative where we have three or four players at each hospital visiting the kids and their parents. They’re in a very difficult situation when they’re here and especially around Christmas it’s good to help them in any way that we can. It’s hard for them but we try to give them a little support by bringing them a present and listening to their stories. It’s very important for us to do this.”

Harry Kane at Whipps Cross said: “It’s close to my heart, definitely, and great to come back and see the kids who are going through a tough time at Christmas. We’ve handed out presents and just given them something to smile about. Whenever we get the time to do something like this, it’s a great feeling and it means a lot to the players to visit the hospitals, 100 per cent. Anything we can do to give something back, we enjoy it and it’s something we all want to do.”

Michel Vorm at Princess Alexandra in Harlow said: “Hospitals are never nice to go to, but to see the joy and the excitement that you bring to the kids, even when they are going through tough times, is great. It gives you a very good feeling and the kids as well, it’s a perfect combination. I’ve got three kids myself and you know that these situations are the worst, so if you can do something to make them smile it’s always good.”

Above: Maya, Paulo, Kyle and Harry watch on as a young patient opens a present at Whipps Cross.

Christian Eriksen at Whittington said: "It's great to see smiles on the children's faces, support them and give them happiness. It's special to be here as I'm going to be a dad myself. We know how much we can give back and how it makes a big difference for the kids and parents."

Victor Wanyama at Barnet said: “It's important to come here and see the kids. They need support during hard times and I hope we have made them a little bit happier by visiting them and giving them some presents – it's important that we try to keep them smiling. I hope they will get better soon.”

Moussa Sissoko, also at Barnet, said: “We are very lucky because we are professional footballers but when you come to see some of the children at the hospital like today, who are here for different reasons, you realise everything should be good in people's lives and it gives you some important perspective. You can try to give them a good moment because some are fans of football and when they see some of the players, they are very happy. If we can give them some happiness that is the most important thing and that is why we are glad to be here today.”