Wigan Athletic go extra mile to spread the festive cheer

Working with Smyths Toy Store, staff have been able to purchase presents for over 100 children in Wigan.

Latics midfielder Kal Naismith dropped off the first batch of presents at Hope School on Monday, while Kyle Joseph, Adam Long and Thelo Aasgaard played Father Christmas at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary when they dropped off presents for children on the Rainbow Ward.

Also present were press officer Nick Taylor and photographer Bernard Platt, while the Trust’s 'Tree of Hope' was also lit up in Blue and White in honour of the club's visit.

Tom Pearce and Head of Academy Gregor Rioch have also been delivering presents to children at Wigan Youth Zone, where the Community Trust are working with Wigan Council and the Premier League Kicks programme to provide 60 vulnerable children with a free meal while taking part in a range of different sport and arts activities.

And Latics players will also be out and about, delivering packages around Wigan as part of the Tackling Loneliness Together programme, which has seen supporters

provide over 300 packages to be delivered to people at risk of isolation.

Latics Head of Communications Ashley Houghton said the staff-driven campaign has underlined the humility of the people involved at the club.

“It has been an incredibly challenging year for the staff at the club but, in the absence of our regular Christmas visits, we wanted to make sure we spread festive cheer to many children in Wigan,” he said.

“It is well-documented we have faced a crisis within a crisis given the difficult year we have all had, but our remaining staff all came together to donate and ensure we could deliver as many presents as possible.

“Sadly, the players and staff cannot go out to directly hand out the presents as they normally would.

“But it has been really heart-warming to see the gratitude of the staff at each of the places we have delivered to.

“Everyone I have ever worked with at Wigan Athletic has always recognised the importance of being a football club that represents our town well.

“And I think the work of the Community Trust and DW Stadium through the COVID-19 outbreak is symbolic of that and something we can look back on proudly.”

Paediatric Sister for Rainbow Ward, Heather Dineley said: “We’re really grateful to the players for giving up their time to come and drop off some gifts for the children.”

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