A special group of children enjoyed a once in a lifetime experience at Elland Road on
Tuesday afternoon as they were treated to a tour of Elland Road which included a surprise visit from Kalvin Phillips, Raphinha and Joe Gelhardt.
The group of youngsters were invited by the club’s official charity partner, Yorkshire Cancer Research, to take part in an exclusive half-term treat along with some of their loved ones, with each and every one of them having been affected by cancer at some point in their short lives.
After meeting at the stadium in the afternoon, the group took part in a tour around the stadium including visits to the changing rooms, the dugout area, Bremner Statue, Centenary Square and many more places before concluding pitchside for a big group photo. Whilst the photo was being taken, the children and their family members were surprised by none other than three of their favourite players – with Kalvin, Raphinha and Joe all stopping to spend time with them following their training session earlier in the day. The Leeds United trio were on hand to chat with all of the families in attendance, taking photos with them, and signing autographs.
Our England international spoke to LUTV during the visit and said: “It's been so nice to come and see the families, the kids have had some really tough moments with being involved or impacted by cancer in some way, so it's nice to come and see them and put a smile on their faces.
"They didn't know we were coming and we were able to just jump in behind them and surprise them and I think every one of their smiles got two inches wider when they'd seen us.”
Nikki Brady, PR Manager at Yorkshire Cancer Research, added: “Today Yorkshire Cancer Research were able to invivte lots of children that have been affected by cancer to come along to Elland Road for a special stadium tour and the best part was surprising them with a special visit from Kalvin, Raphinha and Joffy.
"It was absolutely fantastic seeing the kids faces afterwards, for them to meet their heroes at Elland Road on a day like today was amazing.”
Yorkshire Cancer Research have been working alongside the club for the past two seasons on a range of different campaigns to help support those affected by cancer and promote the work and research being undertaken at the local charity to try and help save the lives of people in Yorkshire.
For more information on the incredible work being done by Yorkshire Cancer Research every day and to find out how you can help support the charity, please click here.
