ON THURSDAY 07 December, Accrington Stanley players spent the afternoon at the Celebrate Gifts Christmas workshop creating chocolate bouquets that will be handed out on children’s wards during the club’s annual visit to Royal Blackburn Hospital.
Embracing their position as hard-working elves for the afternoon, members of the first team and their manager, John Coleman, were each tasked with creating new Accrington Stanley branded Chocolate Bouquets. The fabulous chocolate florists at Celebrate Gifts were on hand to teach and give the Stanley players one-to-one training, to ensure they were completed to the highest standard.
Paul Bloor, Managing Director of Celebrate Gifts, said:
“The day was fun for all involved. The players were really getting stuck in! Today also brought about some reflection and it’s great to see how far the company has come over the last year.”
From a struggling market stall in Blackburn 18 months ago, to a new 8,000 square foot operation in Accrington delivering over 150,000 gifts every year, the business is booming.
Paul added:
“If you told us one year ago that we would have had Accrington Stanley players in our workshop today, I would never have believed you. We are thrilled to have had them in creating their bouquets, even more so knowing that they will be taken to children who are unfortunately spending the Christmas period in hospital.”
A hospital ward is a difficult place for a child to spend the festive season. Accrington Stanley and Celebrate Gifts are coming together in true #AmazingAccrington spirit to try and ease that difficulty this Christmas.
John Coleman, Manager of Accrington Stanley, said:
“Children who spend Christmas in hospital miss out on so much and it must be hard for all involved. They aren’t able to enjoy it the same way as other kids, missing out on visits to Santa’s Grotto and such. Accrington Stanley want to create magical memories for those who aren’t at home this Christmas and this was a great opportunity to, not only do that, but get involved with the local community by teaming up with Celebrate Gifts.”
“Community pride lies at the heart of Accrington Stanley Football Club,” said Midfielder and Player of the Year, Sean McConville, “people in Accrington really rally round and come together at times like this and the community spirit has helped us all get into the Christmas spirit. We look forward to delivering these brilliant bouquets to the children’s wards and seeing a smile on their faces.”
For more information about Celebrate Gifts visit www.celebrategifts.co.uk or watch their video at https://youtu.be/ihkgM1NFDHE
For more information about Accrington Stanley Football Club and how they are getting involved with the local community visit www.accringtonstanley.co.uk
