Fancy dress football match 'raising money for charity and having fun' this Christmas

A CHARITY football match will take place to raise money for Salisbury Hospice charity this Christmas.

On Saturday, December 28, a football match will take place at the South Newton Recreation Ground to raise money for the Salisbury Hospice charity.

The event is run by James Stewart who wanted to raise money for the cause as it was close to his heart.

(Image: James Stewart) James said: "Last year we did it for Salisbury Hospice as we had lost a good friend to cancer and they were so amazing and professional as always with everyone they look after.

"This year we decided to do the same for the hospice after losing a great friend and neighbour Pip Dewey, who was also a player in his day at the ground and then taking on the groundsman job there, he will be sadly missed."

The charity football matches have been going on for a long time on the ground, and they started as a pub vs. pub game to raise money. It had died off a few years ago until James got involved.

James said: "I decided to bring it back to life and just raise some money for some charities and have fun while doing it.

"I wanted to change things up this year and create a whole new thing with the amazing support of South Newton village hall."

The village hall will be doing breakfast rolls and all the proceeds will be donated to the cause. The Royal Oak pub will also be used after the match for pool, darts tournaments, auction raffle and other great things to raise more money, all thanks to Rude Giant Brewery.

READ MORE: Salisbury foodbank to deliver fresh food parcels at Christmas

James said: "The community has really pulled together in support, massive thanks to our trophy sponsors Tim Sutton Decorators and H.A.T Carpentry Construction that made it all possible."

There will be a kid's game first, followed by an adult's game where one team will dress as Santa's and the other will dress as elves.

The event will take place on Saturday, December 28 for the whole day, with the first match starting at 10 am. Anyone is welcome to go along and support the Salisbury Hospice Charity.