Staff at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust were invited to play at Chelsea FC’s Stamford Bridge stadium yesterday, in a show of support and appreciation for all the efforts of NHS staff throughout the pandemic.
23 members of staff were accompanied by CW+ for an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the stadium, and to play against staff from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. This was the first match in a London-wide NHS football tournament, organised by football charity London United. Hospitals across London will be sending in teams to play at the final on Saturday 26 June at Gunnersbury Park.
Football clubs have been twinned with hospitals to provide support and host six-a-side matches to select the teams for the final – including Chelsea FC and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Chelsea FC has been a strong supporter of CW+ and our hospitals, including offering accommodation for frontline staff at the Millennium Hotel. Recently, Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger also showed his support for our staff by handing over his Instagram account for a day, taking his followers on a virtual tour of the hospital and meeting a wide variety of staff members.
Nicola Rose, Divisional Director of Nursing for Planned Care, played on the women’s team and said, “It’s great to come and play football at Stamford Bridge – I’m a lifelong Chelsea fan! It’s been a really hard year during the pandemic, so to come and have a once in a lifetime opportunity here is lovely and really rewarding.”
Thank you to the Chelsea FC Foundation and their partners Yokohama Tyres for inviting our staff to play, and for taking them on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the stadium. We are so proud of both our men’s and women’s teams for coming in at 2nd place and look forward to the final in June.
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