Our patients and staff meet a trio of Hammers
West Ham United players Manuel Lanzini, Conor Coventry and Jamal Baptiste visited our hospital last week to spread Christmas cheer among our patients and staff.
The Club has had a long relationship with the hospital, with many players being born there or using its services, as well as with Barts Charity, who support all five hospitals within the Trust.
During their Christmas visit, the Hammers trio first dropped into our Wellbeing Hub, which opened in February this year and was funded by Barts Charity. There, the players met staff from the emergency department, Rainbow Centre, wellbeing team, and other fans, chatting, posing for photographs and signing shirts and scarves.
Our staff on Rainbow Centre meet members of the West Ham United football team
Colleagues who met the trio included was security officer/supervisor Haseeb, who lives in East Ham is a West Ham fan and plays as a goalkeeper during our WeLoveFootball sessions.
“Newham Hospital is somewhere everyone in the area has been to or has a family link to, so it’s a central part of the community,” said Haseeb, who joined fire safety officer and lifelong Hammer Stevie in welcoming the players. “It’s a busy place to work, and I love it!
“I’ve always been a West Ham fan since I was a kid and we’ve had some ups and downs, but it’s great. I’ve been to lots of memorable games – the last game at the Boleyn Ground was special, as it was Mark Noble’s Testimonial. The European adventures have been strong. We’re doing a lot better than we used to! We’ve got a West Ham group chat among staff and we have started a monthly football session at Newham Leisure Centre, where we have a little kickaround – it’s so good.”
The players were then welcomed to Rainbow Centre. There, they handed out goodie bags to patients and their family members and met staff. Among them was ten-year-old West Ham fan Buster, who is undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and his parents.
Buster told the players about his favourite players and the matches he had been to, and told Lanzini he hoped Argentina would win the FIFA World Cup, winning the approval of our No10, who presented him with a personally signed shirt and invited him to a future game at London Stadium as his guest.
West Ham players meet Buster at Newham Hospital
Speaking on visiting the hospital, the long-standing Hammers midfielder Lanzini said:
“It was very good to go to Newham Hospital to meet everybody. The staff there work very hard to look after patients, and we know how difficult their jobs can be, so it is important for them to have a place to relax, like the wellbeing hub.
“It was lovely to meet Buster, too, even if he did not say I was his favourite player! He is a brave boy and I am looking forward to meeting him and his family at a match soon.”
The players’ final stop was to meet staff from the critical care unit. Players posed for more photographs with excited staff, signed autographs and made video calls to staff family members.
West Ham players meet ITU staff at Newham Hospital
We’re so incredibly grateful to the players, West Ham United and Barts Charity for facilitating this visit – it’s made our Hammers fans’ years! Go Hammers!