Leeds Children's Hospital

24/12/2025

Watch this short film to see what happened when players from Leeds United first team visited patients at Leeds Children's Hospital last week 🎅

Thank you LUTV for sharing this very festive video! 💙

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

24/12/2025

Leeds Children's Hospital's Best-Dressed Christmas Tree 🎄

It's Christmas Eve and we're excited to announce the winner of our Best-Dressed Christmas Tree Competition!

With plenty of help from patients and families our teams have been decking the halls, competing for the title of Best-Dressed Christmas Tree and in the process entire wards have been transformed!

Last week judges toured the hospital and were wowed with a series of festive presentations and performances!

The overall winner with a beautiful 'home away from home' theme and recycled decorations was Ward L38 - take a bow Ward L38!

Also awarded Highly Commended were:
🏄 Ward L30 with their Hawaiian Christmas theme
🧝‍♂️Children's Dialysis Unit with their ward full of cheeky elves

Judges said:

‘The standard of decoration this year is incredible! Staff have really raised the bar with incredible themes, creativity, performances and most importantly - the involvement of our patients. A huge well done to everyone involved in decorating the hospital this Christmas and making it feel truly magical for patients and families'

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

23/12/2025

Special delivery for Leeds Children's Hospital!

Railway staff from Northern, Network Rail, Trans-Pennine Express and LNER swapped trains for sleighs when they made a special delivery of Christmas gifts to Leeds Children's Hospital yesterday.

Railway staff were joined by local sports teams, West Yorkshire Police, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and British Transport Police.

The procession that left Leeds Station at 10am included two fire engines, police cars, police motor bikes, Santa and Mrs Claus and two sleighs full of toys!

Gifts were gratefully received by Leeds Children's Hospital staff. Patients enjoyed meeting Santa and testing out the fire engine sirens!

Laura Whelan - Head of Nursing - said:

'The toy run has become such a lovely tradition, it’s something we always look forward to in our Christmas calendar and our patients love it. It started with one of our patients wanting to give something back and now it has grown to include so many local organisations and people in the community who want to do something kind for children in hospital at Christmas.'

Thank you to everyone at Northern and all the local organisations involved in this fantastic donation for children spending Christmas in hospital.

Northern London North Eastern Railway British Transport Police TransPennine Express Trains West Yorkshire Police West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Leeds Hospitals Charity

23/12/2025

Special Feeds Technician Hajra has been highlighted as one of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust's 12 Faces of Christmas!

Meet Hajra, the latest in our 12 Faces of Christmas series. Hajra is a special feeds technician at Leeds Children’s Hospital, part of a small team responsible for making and distributing milk feeds for babies and children, including The Neonatal Unit where we care for our tiniest patients. She will be working in this essential service on Christmas Day.

She says: “Christmas Day will be a little quieter than normal as lots of patients spend Christmas at home if they’re able to. I’ll start by logging in to check the feed requirements for the day. Then I’ll print out individual labels for each feed and start making up the feeds. Once made, the feeds are delivered to the wards or stored securely ready for the nursing team to collect.

“It’s our role to make sure each patient gets the correct feed that has been made to their specific requirements. We’re usually in the background so unless your child has special dietary requirements – you wouldn’t really know we’re here.”

Hajra often chooses to work the Christmas shift because although she doesn’t celebrate Christmas, she enjoys getting into the Christmas spirit along with patients and colleagues.

“We wear Christmas jumpers and get dressed up,” she says. “Everyone is having Christmas dinner and the patients have lots of presents to open, it’s just a really nice day to work.” In the afternoon Hajra will be heading home to enjoy a meal with her family.

22/12/2025

Members of the Leeds United first team made their Christmas visit to patients at Leeds Children’s Hospital last week!

The players, including captain Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Sam Byram, Karl Darlow, Alex Cairns, Lukas Nmecha, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Jaka Bijol, Noah Okafor, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jack Harrison, James Justin, Ilia Gruev, Seb Bornauw and Brenden Aaronson, all popped down after training to visit several wards and give out some early Christmas presents.

Matron Sarah Fletcher said:

'Families have been having really tough times and when we told them this morning about the visit, there was some real excitement! I think at this time of year when there's so much going on at schools and at home and the children that are in hospital miss out on some of that, it's really important we celebrate with them and having this (LUFC visit) is something that they'll remember for a long while!'

Find out more here: www.leedsunited.com/en/news/first-team-players-visit-leeds-childrens-hospital-to-spread-festive-joy

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

22/12/2025

Here's what happened when players from Leeds United first team visited patients and families at Leeds Children's Hospital last week.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

22/12/2025

Christmas dinner for parents and carers 🎄

Thanks to Millie Wright Children's Charity, parents and carers of patients spending Christmas Day at Leeds Children's Hospital will be able to enjoy a free Christmas dinner in hospital this Thursday!

Co-founder Ceri Wright said:

'For families with a seriously ill child, Christmas can feel like just another day of worry. We want to remind them that they are not alone – that there is a community standing beside them, ready to share hope and kindness.'

'This initiative will enable families to enjoy a Christmas meal together, creating a moment where they can pause, breathe, and feel the magic of Christmas despite the challenges they face.'

The Millie Wright Children's Charity relies on the generosity of donors to make initiatives like this possible. Visit www.millieschildrenscharity.org to find out more.

SantaVM

17/12/2025

We are so pleased to see that Penelope is back home and doing so well after her heart transplant! ❤

On Friday, November 29 2024, the lives of Penelope Greathead, and her parents Jordan Greathead and Hollie Suff changed immeasurably after Penelope suffered a cardiac arrest, at the age of just 14 months.

17/12/2025

In the last week before Christmas there is still time to donate a gift for a patient through our online Wishlist with Leeds Hospitals Charity.

We have had an amazing response to this year's campaign so far and once again we have been blown away by the kindness and generosity show by local businesses, organisations and individuals.

We have received a lot of lovely toys but we still need gifts for babies and teenagers. Headphones, toiletry sets, baby toys, blankets and sensory items. would be particularly appreciated. We have adjusted the Wishlist to make it easier choose one of these gifts.

Purchase a gift or gifts here:

👉https://www.leedshospitalscharity.org.uk/News/wishlist👈

17/12/2025

Strike action is taking place this week, from Wednesday morning through to Monday morning.

If you need medical help during this time, please visit 111.nhs.uk.

You should call 999 only if someone is in a life-threatening or very serious condition.

16/12/2025

Leeds Rhinos drop off sack-loads of Christmas cheer!

Players from the Leeds Rhinos men’s, women’s, and Leeds Rhinos Netball teams continued their Christmas tradition last week with a visit to Leeds Children’s Hospital, delivering gifts and visiting ward areas to meet patients and families.

With support from Amazon as well the Rhino's annual Christmas Crackers appeal donated gifts included toys, portable DVD players, baby supplies, and toiletries. Leeds Rhinos Foundation work with our Play Team in the build up to Christmas to make sure their Christmas delivery matches what patients and families need.

As usual the Rhinos were a huge hit with patients spreading smiles and Christmas cheer across the hospital.

Jamie Jones-Buchanan (Leeds Rhinos CEO) joined players and support staff on the wards:

'It's really important getting out into the communities of Leeds. There's a long-standing relationship now with Leeds Children's Hospital. They've got wonderful staff who do outstanding work and they're often fans of Leeds Rhinos. But ultimately, it's about the young people, it's about the children and to be able to get around the wards. Giving out some gifts and putting smiles on young faces at a difficult time of year is the main thing. It's always an honour and a pleasure to come down and visit Leeds Children’s Hospital.'

One patient was particularly keen to meet his favourite player - Jake Connor. Jake was due to visit another ward but after a last minute team huddle, groups were changed and Jake made a surprise appearance!

Thank you so much to everyone at Leeds Rhinos, Leeds Rhinos Foundation, all their supporters and partners who make the Christmas visit possible.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

16/12/2025

We are delighted to see 'Ray of Sunshine' winner Gaby from our Paediatric Critical Care ward highlighted as one of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 12 Faces of Christmas! 🎄

Meet Gaby, one of our 12 Faces of Christmas. She's a healthcare support worker in Paediatric Critical Care at Leeds Children's Hospital, and will be working nights throughout December including Christmas Day Night.

Gaby supports the nursing team and provides hands on care for patients on Paediatric Critical Care (PCC) including turning patients to prevent pressure sores, helping with personal hygiene routines and patient observations. She also provides support to families caring for a child on PCC.

"When nurses have to focus their attention on the patient, we are there to support the family and bridge that gap," she says. "I feel like I’ve found my home on PCC. They’re an incredible team and they work so well together, especially under pressure.

"Our patients are the most unwell in the hospital and sometimes it’s incredibly sad but it can also be rewarding. The good times outweigh the bad times. We have the opportunity to support parents in their worst moments and this is when you can really make a difference. Sometimes it’s as simple as making cup of tea and being a shoulder to cry on.

"We spend a lot of time with the patients. We hold their hands, we sing , we read them stories because even though they’re unconscious they can still hear and they need to know that they’re not alone."

Gaby will spend Christmas morning with her son, opening presents and having Christmas breakfast before going to bed in the afternoon, ready for the night shift.

"It’s a different experience being in the hospital at Christmas – it makes you really appreciate everything that you have," she says.

"Patients will all get new Christmas bedding and PJs. We also make sure that Santa visits PCC so there will be a sack of presents for each patient on Christmas morning."