LEGENDARY England footballer Jimmy Greaves has officially opened the first shop to begin trading in the new wing at Broomfield Hospital.

Jimmy, who is the third highest England goal scorer, chatted with patients and volunteers from the League of Friends after cutting the ribbon on the new retail outlet.

After the opening ceremony Jimmy said:” It is a pleasure to be here at Broomfield, it is my local hospital and the borough’s greatest asset. I was a patient here myself earlier in the year and cannot fault the care I received. The new hospital wing is stunning.

“I am delighted to open the first shop in the new hospital and what makes it even better is the fact that it is run by the League of Friends, who I try and support whenever I can. I have looked around the shop, which sells everything from magazine to toothbrushes, all you need when coming to the hospital as a visitor or patient.”

The shop is run and managed entirely by volunteers form the League of Friends. All of the profits from the shop go back to the hospital to support the charitable funds.

In the last five years the League has donated almost �400,000 to the trust. This money has been used to support a wide range of services, including orthopaedics, plastics, ophthalmology, children’s services and urology.

Barbara Coupe from the league of Friends said:” We are all delighted that Jimmy has taken the time to officially open our shop. We have been running a shop in Broomfield Hospital for a number of years, so we are very pleased to be able to have these premises in the new wing, especially as they are double the size of our existing shop.

“This means that we have been able to extend our range of stock. We hope that the shop will attract a lot of custom so we can continue to support the hospital in all of the good work that they do.

The shop is situated at the far end of the hospital atrium, near to the fracture clinic and is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm, Saturdays from 9am to 4.30pm and on Sunday from 2 to 4.30pm.

• If you would like to consider working in the shop as a volunteer please contact Yvonne Carter in the charities office on (01245) 514559.