All things festive at Sheffield Children’s

The most magical time of the year is here, and throughout December, Sheffield Children’s has been buzzing with holiday cheer. We’ve welcomed a host of famous faces, including TV and sports stars, as well as panto performers, who have brought smiles and festive magic to children and young people staying with us.

Here are some highlights (in date order!):

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club

We welcomed players and coaching staff from Sheffield Wednesday’s men’s football team, who spread Christmas cheer among patients and families at our Sheffield Children’s Hospital site. 

Captain and Ambassador for The Children’s Hospital Charity Barry Bannan, Manager Danny Rohl and Assistant Manager Sascha Lense visited children and young people across the wards. They got into the festive spirit by swapping stories, handing out gifts, and even playing a game on the Xbox with patient Kourtney! 

We were also joined by players Jamal Lowe, Pierce Charles and Shea Charles. This terrific trio met Owls superfan Wentworth, who asked them all about what it’s like to be a professional football player.

Virtual Santa visits

Children and young people had the chance to speak to Father Christmas direct from the North Pole thanks to the Cisco Santa team.

Santa spoke to lots of children and young people staying on our wards, sang festive carols to spread Christmas cheer all the way from his grotto in the North Pole, and even left each patient with a wonderful gift to take away with the help of his extraordinary elves.

Lucy Bronze

Lioness Lucy Bronze visited several wards to share memorable moments with patients and families. During her visit, she met Kourtney, a hopeful future-Lioness, and was quizzed by patient Wentworth on the inside secrets of the England team. 

Lucy showed support for the Charity earlier this year by raffling off her match-worn shirt from her Chelsea debut and raising over £3,000.

Sheffield Theatre’s Snow White Panto

We were delighted to welcome the magical cast of Snow White from Sheffield Theatres to Sheffield Children’s, thanks to The Children’s Hospital Charity and Art+.

Straight from the Enchanted Forest, Snow White herself was joined by her hilarious sidekick Muddles and two of her merry crew, Sarge and Striker. Together, they brought smiles to patients and families as they visited wards, played games, and chatted about their favourite panto moments – all while spreading joy and festive cheer throughout the hospital.

The fun didn’t stop there! After their ward visits, the cast introduced a very special screening of their show right here in the Outpatients Department. Families enjoyed drinks and snacks courtesy of The Children’s Hospital Charity while watching their favourite characters perform on the big screen.

Thank you to Sheffield Theatres, The Children’s Hospital Charity, and the Artfelt team for bringing a sprinkle of panto magic to Sheffield Children’s. Moments like these make the festive season even more special for the children, young people, and families we care for.

Dan Walker

Dan Walker spent time with Sheffield Children’s Chief Executive Ruth Brown meeting patients’ families, and staff from Ward 1. 

Dan also visited the STAR service at the Hospital. The STAR service is the Supportive Treatment and Recovery service provided by Sheffield Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). The STAR team provide rapid mental health assessment and care to people who are admitted to the Emergency Department or wards, when they are in a mental health crisis. 

Dan has been a long-time supporter of The Children’s Hospital Charity, which supports Sheffield Children’s, and in 2023 helped to launch the Bright Young Dreams campaign in aid of the Charity. The campaign aims to tackle the urgent global crisis in children’s mental health, starting in Sheffield to be shared with the world.

Jessica Ennis-Hill

We welcomed Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill to Sheffield Children’s for some golden moments with patients and families.

Jess chatted with families about their care at Sheffield Children’s, their favourite sports, and their upcoming Christmas plans. 

Jess even bought her gold medal for patients to hold, surprising them with how heavy it was. 

Having been a long-time patron of The Children’s Hospital Charity, Jess continues to go above and beyond for Sheffield Children’s. 

In 2023 she launched the Bright Young Dreams campaign with other patrons aiming to tackle the children’s mental health crisis, starting in Sheffield to share with the world. 

Harry Maguire

Sheffield Children’s was thrilled to welcome The Children’s Hospital Charity patron Harry Maguire to visit the hospital!  

Harry visited patients and families to spread some festive cheer, give out goodies, and talk all things football.  

As a former patient at Sheffield Children’s Harry understands the importance of the care offered at the Trust and showed his support by becoming a Patron of The Children’s Hospital Charity earlier this year.  

Sheffield United  Football Club

Footballers from Sheffield United’s men’s team arrived at Sheffield Children’s, spreading festive joy to children, young people, and their families ahead of their weekend match.

Players Anel Ahmedhodzic, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Jesurun Rak-Saki, Sydie Peck, Sam McCallum, and Alfie Gilchrist spent time on the wards handing out gifts, playing video games, and even kicking around a football or two with excited patients.

They were joined by teammates Sam McCallum, Ryan One, and Harrison Burrows, who took on patient Theo in a thrilling game of Bop-It – making for a memorable moment!

A creative Christmas with Art+

It’s been a creative Christmas season at Sheffield Children’s thanks to The Children’s Hospital Charity’s arts programme, Art+. 

Thanks to generous donations Art+ deliver a programme of engagement activities all year round to support wellbeing for patients, families and staff at Sheffield Children’s. 

The festive season is no different, and the Art+ team worked with professional artists and musicians to help bring magical moments throughout December. 

This video is just a snapshot of the joy and festive fun from our creative workshops.

We’ve enjoyed breakdancing Santas with Rationale Arts, Christmas circus skills with Poppins Presents, ukelele playing with Live Music Now, the Colleague Choir, and accessible sing-a-longs with Rosie Hood. 

With visits from Victorian Pick Pockets (Stan Skinny) and puppet Santa and his reindeer thanks to Little Angel Theatre we saw a little of naughty and a little bit of nice. 

We made a Christmas single with Tracks, and decked the halls with Citizens of Stitch, while Concerteenies bought music to some of our smallest visitors. Our festive wreathmaking was back, to help colleagues do something different during the busy season thanks to Fox Farm Flowers. 

We are so grateful to all our professional artists and musicians for helping to distract and entertain our patients, families, and staff in what can be challenging times. 

This Christmas The Children’s Hospital Charity are raising money to support the workshops led by Art+. Donate today to help bring more special moments to Sheffield Children’s at tchc.org.uk/Christmas 

With the help of Holly Marland’s beautiful Kora playing we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Esme Morgan

Esme Morgan visited Sheffield Childrens with The Children’s Hospital Charity – just in time for Christmas!

Lioness, Esme, is a patron of The Children’s Hospital Charity, and her latest visit to Sheffield Children’s was a lovely chance for her to spread some festive joy to patients and families. Esme shared stories and laughs with families, and even gave some useful advice to some young aspiring sportspeople.

Earlier this year Esme transferred to National Women’s Soccer League team Washington Spirit, but despite her move stateside, she has continued to be a dedicated supporter of The Children’s Hospital Charity. This festive season Esme raffled off three match worn shirts, one from Washington Spirit’s Championship final game, and two from England shirts signed by all the Lionesses! The raffle closed yesterday and has raised an incredible £4,792.16 for Sheffield Children’s.