A festive visit from the Sheffield Steelers!

We had a brilliant time at our Becton Centre recently with a very cool visit from some of the Sheffield Steelers ice hockey players. Colton, Daniel, Matthew, Kevin and Marco came kitted out in excellent festive outfits, and yes those beards are real!

Our young people spent some time preparing before the visit to make sure they had all the important questions ready to ask the team including: Q. Would you prefer to eat cottage cheese forever or Peperami forever? A. Peperami, apart from Colton – who’s dressed as Santa. He likes hot sauce on his cottage cheese! Q. Is it cold when playing ice hockey? A. To start with yes, but not once you’re moving! Q. Would you like a remote control with a rewind button for life, or a pause button? This one caused a lot of discussion. A. Rewind – so the team can relive their summer holidays.

After some great questions, including about where the team are from (a mixture of Canada and the USA), they showed us their kit and there was lots of laughs whilst trying it on. That’s Karon – the assistant headteacher of the Becton School in the full gear. To end the visit some of our young people proudly showed the team around their school and some of the lodges where they stay.

The team also got to visit the newly renovated dining room, which has been transformed thanks to support from Steelers player – Marco. The money he raised has helped The Children’s Hospital Charity create an environment with lots of warm colours and matching chairs and tables for young people to use. This design has also been replicated in other areas at Becton so that young people have a similar experience if they are having treatment.

Visits like these are a great chance for young people to learn in different ways, to ask questions and to enjoy some festive fun. Thank you so much to all the team from the Sheffield Steelers for joining us.