Dan James was the special guest at a Leeds United Foundation session taking place at St James’s University Hospital earlier this week, to show recognition for their recent Recondition the Nation Silver Award.

The Leeds United winger was on hand to meet with a group of elderly patients, who are all based on the Beckett Wing and overcoming recent illnesses or injuries, with nowhere else to go to receive the treatment and care they require to recover.

During the visit, the Wales international got involved in one of their weekly sessions with the club’s official charity, which is a series of seated exercises that helps to speed up recovery times whilst also building resilience, increasing their social interaction, and improving their mental health and wellbeing. It was also fitting that some of the work involved the use of a football, encouraging them to throw and move their feet to improve their strength and mobility as much as possible.

Dan spoke with LUTV during the visit, saying: “It’s been great to come along and interact with everyone and to see everyone with a smile on their face. It is nice for me to see a bit of a different environment and get the chance to know them all. It was great to see what they’re doing here and how great the session was, everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy it which was brilliant.”

Helen Pease, from Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, added: “Dan was absolutely brilliant with the patients, he was really engaged and chatting to everybody, and you could see that the patients loved having somebody else joining in their session with them, encouraging them and engaging them in conversation. They all know Sophie from the Foundation really well now, but when we told them we were going to have a player come down they were all really excited to meet him.”

Recondition the Nation is a scheme that is trying to help reduce functional loss for patients. The club’s official charity and St James’s Hospital have been working collaboratively, to try and support some of the more elderly members of our community that are being taken care of on the Beckett Wing. These people may not have the family or additional support they need to help them recover at home, or there may be a lack of space in homes for them. Between the Foundation and hospital, they work hard to give them the care they deserve.

If you would like any further information about the work being done between the Foundation and St James’s Hospital, please contact Sophie.Dales@leedsunited.com.