Sheffield United have reached out to those affected by cancer during lockdown by distributing care packages as part of its Fans FC programme.
Working with the club's charitable arm, Sheffield United Community Foundation, parcels are hand-delivered to people coping with the disease to ensure they stay connected and see a friendly, familiar face.
"The feedback we have received has been incredibly heart-warming," the Foundation's Health & Wellbeing Manager Levi Ashton told the club's official website.
Packages have included letters written by local schoolchildren, health-and-wellbeing-themed gifts, including ankle/wrist weights, resistance bands and a bespoke Fans FC workout T-shirt to encourage physical activity.
"We look forward to improving our participants' health and reducing the risk of cancer in 2021 using the equipment provided," added Ashton.
For Shaun Pearson, a care package recipient, staying connected has helped ease his sense of isolation during the past few months of the pandemic.
"To see another face, it really cheered me up," he said. "I'd not been anywhere or seen anyone. It gave me another spring to my step."
The Fans FC programme is funded by the Premier League Charitable Fund, and is one of the many ways Premier League clubs are supporting their communities during the coronavirus pandemic.
