Members of the Leeds United first-team squad paid a visit to the Mission Christmas distribution centre on Wednesday morning to deliver gifts and make their own monetary donation.

Captain Liam Cooper was joined by Luke Ayling, Stuart Dallas, Barry Douglas, Pablo Hernandez and Kiko Casilla at The Store Room located just minutes away from Elland Road, to make a cash donation to the campaign on behalf of the team and drop off all of the gifts kindly donated by supporters over the weekend.

During the visit the players learned more about the Cash For Kids charity and their annual Mission Christmas campaign, discovering how many children are currently living in poverty and could be without any presents to open on Christmas Day this year. They then spent time helping volunteers sort some of the gifts that are split by gender and then age in the various storage rooms donated free of charge by The Store Room.

Defender Liam Cooper spoke to LUTV during the visit and said: "We've had a whip around the lads to make a donation today and we just urge everyone to donate in any way that they can. Even if we make just one extra child smile on Christmas Day it's all worth it and we're delighted to be able to hopefully help do that.

"They do a great job down here and we thank the guys for allowing us to come along today. Lets try and help some of these kids together and bring a smile to their faces over the festive period."

Barry Douglas, added: "Credit to the people involved here, it's amazing what they're doing. It's a massive wake up call and puts a lot of things into perspective, it especially touches home when you've got kids and the fact that some children won't open a present on Christmas Day is heartbreaking.

"To be able to use our profile and help support the cause is brilliant and hopefully we can help bring a little bit of joy and help make a difference to some of these children who need it."

Mission Christmas encourages people to make donations of gifts or money during the festive period to ensure sure all youngsters have something to open on Christmas morning. One in three children living in Leeds are currently living in poverty and there were around 18,000 children in our city that were referred to the charity for help this Christmas.

Now in the final week leading to Christmas, the charity are no longer asking for gifts with volunteers set to spend the last week sorting the toys that have been dropped off over the last few days, instead they are asking for cash donations. There are still 6,000 children in need of gifts so every extra penny will help to make a difference.

If you are able to donate, please visit https://www.cashforkidsgive.co.uk/donate/radio-aire-mission-christmas-donations-2019/

Cash for Kids responds to the needs of children in local communities so they can live life to the full and achieve their individual potential. Every year the charity raises millions of pounds for young people who are suffering from abuse or neglect, who are disabled and have special needs or who simply need extra care or guidance.

In 2018 over £21.4 million was raised by the charity, helping to support more than one million children across the UK.

A massive thank you to every supporter that has made a donation this year and helped to support the campaign very close to our hearts.