Durham spread Christmas cheer at GNCH

Durham County Cricket Club attended the Great North Children’s Hospital yesterday (Wednesday, 19 December) to help spread Christmas joy to the respiratory and surgery wards.

Durham’s entire first team including England’s Ben Stokes and Mark Wood attended alongside coaches Neil Killeen and Sam Clark, plus Director of Cricket Marcus North.

Together they handed out signed photographs, t-shirts and caps as well as entertaining the children and their families who will be spending Christmas at the hospital this year.

Durham’s marketing team and Foundation Manager Josie Pointon – who helped develop a partnership between the GNCH and Durham County Cricket Club last year and which has saw DCCC fast bowler Chris Rushworth become an ambassador – were also in attendance.

“It’s been amazing to be able to come along today and try and put a smile on some of these youngsters’ faces that will hopefully take their mind off things for a little while,” Rushworth said.

“It’s a real eye-opener to see how strong some of these children and families are and makes myself and I’m sure the rest of the squad see how fortunate we are.

“Christmas should be an enjoyable time for everyone, but unfortunately in some cases this isn’t the reality; therefore, it’s an opportunity for us as athletes to try and offer some relief and a distraction for these kids.

“I’ve been so impressed by all of the hospital staff and the facilities, we’re very lucky to have such a professional and high standard of building in the North East.”

Durham and England fast bowler, Mark Wood added: “It was special to be able to come and see these guys at Christmas and we really hope they’re all home as soon as possible.

Great North Children’s Hospital, Research and Innovations Manager, Julie Anderson, said: “We were very grateful to all of the Durham players who visited us yesterday.”

“We’ve had extremely positive feedback from the wards that were visited about how lovely the players were with the patients and their families and how they took time to speak to everyone and what a difference the visit made to their day.”