Legendary Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne paid a surprise visit to Birmingham Children’s Hospital on Thursday to show his support for the charity’s £3.65 million Star Appeal to build the UK’s first Rare Diseases Centre for children. The famed Prince of Darkness used his return to his home city to revisit the leading paediatric hospital that is close to his heart. Last year the Aston-born star supported the hospital’s The Big Hoot which saw “Ozzy’s Owl”, created by Ozzy’s friend and roadie Graham Frank Wright, go under the hammer at auction to raise £12,500 for the Star Appeal.

Ozzy said: “My son Louis was in Birmingham Children’s Hospital for quite a while as a child and the staff took such good care of him, something which I will always remember. 

“They do amazing work for kids and I’m really pleased to have been able to drop in and once again show my support for the Star Appeal – it’ll be a national centre that will help families not only in my hometown, but also across the country.”

Yvonne Millard, Head of Nursing at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, added: “It was such an honour to welcome the legend that is Ozzy Osbourne to our hospital.

“We are very proud that our new Rare Diseases Centre will improve the lives of thousands of families from across the UK and to have such a big star as Ozzy supporting it is just fantastic and a real boost for the appeal.

“It was a brilliant afternoon that helped put smiles on a lot of faces.”

Every year Birmingham Children’s Hospital treats more than 9,000 children living with over 500 rare or undiagnosed conditions. These children often face huge challenges and obstacles growing up and the sense of isolation can be overwhelming.

There are between 6,000 and 8,000 known “rare” conditions in the UK, with three quarters affecting children. Of these, 30% will sadly die before their fifth birthday.

Whilst treatment for patients with rare diseases at Birmingham Children’s Hospital is world-class, its facilities don’t match. Many families spend a lot of time seeing different specialists on different days in different departments.

To change this, the Star Appeal will fund a new centre that will provide a single place within the hospital for all assessment, diagnosis, treatment, information, research and also valuable peer-to-peer support.

Previous to visiting the hospital, Ozzy went to see the Midland Metro tram that has been named in his honour.