Annual hospital visit for players and management...
THE SADDLERS' players and management went along for our annual visit to the Children's Ward of the Walsall Manor Hospital to spread some festive cheer on Tuesday afternoon.Taking toys that were collected by the Walsall Football Supporters Trust at last weekend's game against Yeovil Town, the players spent a couple of hours chatting to the youngsters and their parents.
"This kind of thing is always rewarding," said manager, Dean Smith. "It's good to be able to do this and help bring some cheer to the children who are in hospital at this time of the year.
"It was also nice to be able to hand out gifts thanks to the generosity of our supporters, so it was a real team effort."
Ben Purkiss added: "Hopefully our visit brightened the day for the kids. It certainly puts things into perspective when you do things like this.
"As a footballer you tend to be shut off from things, but there is a bigger picture out there and to be able to hand out presents and chat to the children and their parents is something that I thoroughly enjoy doing."