Phil Neville visits Matthew Moss

Phil and Julie Neville with pupils from one of the schools they visited

Everton captain Phil Neville and his wife Julie took to the air on Friday (25 June 2010) on a whistle stop schools tour to personally thank pupils at Matthew Moss High School for taking part in ‘Wear What U Want Day,' a schools fundraising initiative, in aid of Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity.

Matthew Moss was one of several schools from the region who participated in the non uniform day.

The school was entered into a draw to win a visit from the footballer, who along with his wife Julie, is a patron of the Charity.

‘Wear What U Want Day’ supported by Tesco, encouraged pupils to pay £1 in return for being able to ditch their uniform for the day.

Phil Neville, said: “It was such a brilliant day, the pupils were great asking some really hard questions as well as some cheeky ones. The hospital has been fantastic to us and that is why I think it is important to give something back and visiting the schools as part of Wear What U Want Day allows us to do that. It is rewarding to be able to personally thank some of our supporters as well as thank Tesco for their kind support of this event.”

David North, Community and Government Director at Tesco said: "Tesco is really pleased to be able to help the largest children's hospital in the UK. Phil and Julie's commitment to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital Charity is inspiring and one of the reasons we were keen to help. The hospital is so important and does an incredible job treating children and supporting families through the most difficult times.”

All schools that registered for the event were also entered into a second prize draw to win £1,000 of Tesco for Schools & Clubs vouchers but unfortunately Matthew Moss missed out on this honour.

Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity is raising money to ensure continued excellence in treatment, care and research at the hospital – improving the lives of thousands of children each year across the North West and beyond.

The support of the Charity means that the hospital can provide additional resources that make life a little easier for patients and their families who use the hospital.

The charity has three main areas of work:

• to support research projects to improve our understanding of children’s illnesses 
• to help to create an environment that’s more child-friendly 
• to provide state-of-the-art equipment for diagnosis and treatment.