In the pediatric department of the Beauvais hospital center, members of the football supporters association “Lens Picardie” (including one dressed as Santa Claus) gave 18 new toys to sick children on Thursday, December 19.
If there were only four members at the request of the hospitalit remained an intense moment of joy and happiness, both for the children and for the staff and members of the association despite the masks. The idea of giving Christmas gifts started from an example given for a long time in the Lens region.
“In fact, for around twenty years in Lens, all supporters as well as supporters associations have given a small gift during the Christmas holidays for hospitals in the Lens sector », Explains Thomas Marest, vice-president of this collective based in Formerie, 40 kilometers north of Beauvais (Oise).
Read also: This well-known Santa Claus in town has been offering gifts to hospitalized children at the Simone-Veil hospital center for nearly 30 years
An initiative carried out for the 15th anniversary of their association
“As 2025 is the fifteenth year that our association has existed, we wanted to do the same thing knowing that the closest hospital was that of Beauvais”adds the son of Stéphane Marest (the president was unable to be present due to illness).
Contact made and with the agreement of the CHB, the donations or gifts collected by the supporters of the blood and gold fans association, enabled the 18 children who were in pediatrics (the service can accommodate 24) to receive a new toy, whether for girls or boys, of all ages: the youngest child was seven weeks old and the oldest, 17 years old.
