\n The leading social care charity aids thousands of people who have learning disabilities, are autistic or have mental health challenges, to live the \u2018Best Life Possible.\u2019\n<\/p>\n
\n The trio of forwards from the Super League club, and new first-team member Billy Keeley, made some surprise visits to the Community Integrated Care\u2019s supported living sites in St Helens this week.\n<\/p>\n
\n Saints Community Development Foundation helped organise the trips.\n<\/p>\n
\n Saints Jake Wingfield and Noah Stephens with Linda Critchley (Image: Submitted)\n<\/p>\n
\n Wingfield and Stephens chatted with huge Saints fans Linda Critchley, Stuart Thompson and Jefferey Fisher about the side\u2019s chances of success in 2026, signed shirts and looked through club memorabilia.\n<\/p>\n
\n Across town, ex-Widnes and Catalans forward Whitley and Keeley visited fellow supporters David Fairclough, Stephen Heaton and Robert Lester.\n<\/p>\n
\n David welcomed the pair into the house and Robert showed them into the living room where he chatted about his love for Saints.\n<\/p>\n
\n Bill Keeley and Matt Whitley with David Fairclough (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n They signed his autograph book before Robert showed them up to his bedroom and talked them through all his sports memorabilia.\n<\/p>\n
\n The players posed for pictures with everyone and gave them a Christmas card from the Saints Foundation.\n<\/p>\n
\n Whitley said: \u201cIt\u2019s really good to get out into the community but especially at Christmas time. I was honoured this year when Community Integrated Care invited me and Billy down to come and spend a little bit of time with the residents and to be able to listen to some of the the stories they shared about their lives and the memories they have of the town.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cMe and Billy are really grateful for the opportunity to be invited down and it\u2019s something we look forward to doing again in the near future.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Community Integrated Care director of partnerships and communities John Hughes said: \u201cWe would like to thank the Foundation and the players for sharing their time at this special period.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt was a dream come true for many people we support, who love rugby league and the St Helens club.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe visits created lasting memories and have set people up for an unforgettable Christmas.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe\u2019re proud of our relationship with the club over many years and grateful for their amazing impact, not only in experiences like this, but also in programmes like the Learning Disability Super League.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe\u2019re excited to build on these successes in the years ahead.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Community Integrated Care is a leading provider of specialist not-for-profit care which works both locally and nationally.\n<\/p>\n
\n The visits celebrated its long-term partnership with St Helens RLFC and also gave the Foundation the chance to thank dedicated care workers who will be working to support others on Christmas Day and throughout the seasonal period.\n<\/p>\n
\n The charity has developed the Community Integrated Care Learning Disability Super League, a groundbreaking accessible version of the sport, which enables people who have learning disabilities or autistic people to play for the clubs they love in specially adapted games.\n<\/p>\n
\n Saints are founding members of the programme which was named as the Best Community Scheme in world sport at last year\u2019s Sports Business Awards.\n<\/p>\n
\n Community Integrated Care is set to celebrate a decade of partnership with rugby league in 2026.\n<\/p>\n
\n It is proudly the official social care of the Rugby Football League, delivering a range of programmes with the governing body that tackle health, social and economic inequalities, and challenge discrimination in society.\n<\/p>\n
\n The charity also partners with the Foundation to deliver a free adaptable multi-sports program for people who have complex support needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The leading social care charity aids thousands of people who have learning disabilities, are autistic or have mental…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326692,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-326691","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}