Players and officials from Eastbourne Borough Football Club recently spent the day meeting patients, their families, and staff at the Childrens Wards at both the Conquest Hospital Hastings and at Eastbourne District General Hospital, in addition to visiting the pupils and staff at Langney Primary Academy.

Men’s First Team Manager Mark Beard and Club Captain Brad Barry joined several of the squad in spending time speaking with patients and their loved ones in ‘Kipling’ Childrens Ward at the Conquest, before heading over to the Children’s Day Unit (Scott Unit) at Eastbourne DGH.

Tim Brown, Eastbourne Borough FC Community Manager said: “The Club were delighted to be able to meet patients and their families and spend time with them:

“Being in hospital, especially over the festive season can be difficult for many children, so to give them the opportunity to meet the players and some of their heroes, it can hopefully give them that little boost when they need it most.”

The Sports also paid a visit to Langney Primary Academy, where they handed out gifts and took part in a Q&A with delighted children.

Borough captain Brad Barry, who spent the day visiting both hospitals and the school, said: “We’ve come down today to try and cheer the children up the best we can, and hopefully put some smiles on the faces of the families here.

“Visiting the staff and pupils at Langney Primary School was also a lot of fun for us all, and we were especially impressed with how much thought and effort the children had put into coming up with their questions for us.”

The Club also donated a package of festive gifts to St Wilfred’s Hospice for their annual Christmas party held for families of staff and volunteers, and both Men’s and Women’s squads spent time during the week in joining in with the final ‘Borough in the Community’ sessions of 2023 held at Priory Lane, capping off a busy December for the club.