Chicharito: It's vital West Ham supports the local community

West Ham
West Ham
David Moyes training

West Ham stars gave local families an afternoon to remember with a surprise visit to a community theatre.

Hammers Chicharito, Winston Reid, Declan Rice and Sam Byram were special guests at 'Full Hearts Full Tummies' - an annual event where parents and children are invited to watch a Christmas play and enjoy a festive meal.

The players took the time to take selfies, sign autographs and serve food to the children, mums and dads at the arts centre, based less than two miles from London Stadium. 

The Full Hearts Full Tummies scheme was set up by Stratford Circus three years ago to provide a fun and unforgettable experience to local disadvantaged families. 

"We’ve just been trying to make it a better afternoon for all these people over here," Chicharito told whufc.com: "I know that the Stratford Circus Arts Centre are trying to help in this community, so we’ve come here to try and give these family more of a good afternoon.

"It was great. Coming in and seeing all the reaction of the people – they were very happy, very glad, taking pictures with us – I think that this was the main goal."

The Mexican striker was proud to see the Club working with projects in the local community and was more than happy to put smiles on faces during the event.

He continued: "It’s great that West Ham is integrating itself into the community in Stratford. It’s very important. One of the most important things is that all these young kids can see us and can feel that we’re close.

"The Stadium is here and not very far away from this Centre. We had the match yesterday and today we’ve come here to help them. We wanted to give them a better afternoon and I think we did a pretty good job."

Check out the gallery above for photos from the Full Hearts Full Tummies event!

Disadvantaged families can share a festive lunch after watching a special performance of circus adventure 'The Ramshackle House', Stratford Circus Arts Centre’s Christmas show.

You can donate online here or by text. Donate £10 by texting: ‘FHFT17 £10’ to 70070 or £5 by texting ‘FHFT17 £5’ to 70070