As the players pose for a photograph, a paint roller is placed precariously above Luke Joyce's hair. "Fill them gaps," someone calls.

The roller, thankfully, is dry. A few minutes later, it is dipped in blue paint, and Danny Grainger gets to work on one of the walls of a bedroom in Jigsaw Children's Hospice which is in need of sprucing up.

A few minutes later, Carlisle's captain is proudly showing off his handiwork - much better, he insists, than the efforts of John O'Sullivan on the opposite wall.

"John did two brush marks and thought he was finished," Grainger says, indicating his team-mate's green daubings.

The dressing room, and its cutting humour, was taken a couple of miles up the road yesterday. Carlisle's players left their boots behind and got stuck into a range of worthwhile community tasks.

Tasks, in fact, is probably the wrong word, since none regarded it as a chore. As part of the EFL's "day of action" - an initiative designed to showcase all 72 clubs' community work - Carlisle players fanned out across the city to connect with people young and old.

Scotby and Cumwhinton Schools got a visit from a host of first-teamers. United's mental health and walking football sessions were joined by a couple more, Gary Liddle and Mark Ellis.

Practically the entire squad was involved in something - and at Jigsaw, the connection was profound. Grainger, O'Sullivan, Joyce and Jamie Devitt went there, the first two helping painters from Bell Group, and the latter pair speaking to parents and staff, also joining in a game of virtual football with Ryan, one of the youngsters who uses this precious facility.

It was far from the first time United's players have popped in to the hospice. It will not be the last.

"The club has built up a very strong relationship with Jigsaw over the last 12 months," said Andy Hall, United's media officer, who played a leading role in co-ordinating yesterday's visits.

"We were all invited to the opening of the new snug and sensory rooms a number of months ago, and it struck a chord with two players in particular, Luke Joyce and John O'Sullivan.

"I don't think John will mind me saying he started crying on the night he was told about the Butterfly Room, which is a sad facility in what is a very happy place for these children.

"Afterwards, they pulled me to one side and said if there was anything they could do, just to say the word. They come now at the drop of a hat, often at their own request."

The Butterfly Room is a private and peaceful bedroom and lounge area, allowing families to say goodbye to their loved one after death.

It is indeed an impossibly solemn thing to consider. Yet in many other ways Jigsaw is a place of colour and life - somewhere representatives of a community's biggest football club, a beacon for the area, are right to embrace.

Andrew Maddison, marketing officer at Eden Valley Hospice and Jigsaw, says the impact of United's players dropping by cannot be overstated.

"It's hugely important, not just for the children and young adults who are here, but also because it means people know the club are here and linking with the local community," said Andrew, a Blues fan.

"The fact the players are coming down, seeing some of the kids, their families and the staff, is fantastic. Getting a bedroom decorated out of it is even better!

"Just seeing them playing with one of the young children, seeing what we do, is what it's all about. It might be something really small to the players, spending time out of their day, but for that child it means so much."

The benefits work both ways. "People can have the idea of a hospice being a bit dark and quiet but this is the opposite," Andrew said. "It's colourful, crazy, there's always stuff going on. Once people realise that, they throw themselves in. When the [United] coaching staff came in a few months ago, every one of them was asking questions. They really engaged with it."

As Andrew explained Jigsaw's running costs - £2,126.46 per day, which allows them to offer their services free of charge to children, young people and their families - the importance of United giving places like this a splash of publicity, as well as a lick of paint, was clear.

Hall explained that Curle, as manager, is committed to the importance of community, hence United's players making more appearances these days, without any arms having to be twisted.

"It breaks down barriers and people get to see who they come and watch every week," he added. "And, bearing in mind that about 90 per cent of our appearances are in schools, let's make no bones about it, we're trying to get fans of the future too - show youngsters that Carlisle United is accessible at all levels, not just on a matchday."

Joyce, named United's community player of the year for his commitment to initiatives like yesterday's, may need a little more practice at the football game on Jigsaw's "magic carpet" sensory facility, judging by the way the virtual ball zigzagged across the pitch from his foot.

In terms of grasping what Carlisle United ought to mean to people and organisations far beyond Brunton Park's walls and stands, though, the 30-year-old needed no prompting.

"It's a privilege for us to come to places like this," he said. "If people think we make even a small difference, we're chuffed to bits."