Soap celebs street football match raises more than £15k for Leukaemia CARE

Howard Lake | 7 June 2006 | Newswire

Despite all four seasons visiting Worcester City’s ground in a ten minute spell – with snow, hail, rain and bright sunshine bursting through it all – nearly three thousand fans had a fantastic afternoon in April as the celebrity teams from soaps Hollyoaks and Coronation Street fought out an exciting game of football that saw Hollyoaks run out 5-0 winners!
Both teams took their football very seriously but Hollyoaks had the edge from the start and it was no surprise that they came out on top by the full time whistle.
The event was organised as a fund raising activity for Worcester-based national charity Leukaemia CARE and although the final figures won’t be completed until later in the week, it seems that in excess of £15,000 has been raised by the event. Head of fundraising at Leukaemia CARE, Louise Carlin is over the moon with the response to the event and the efforts put in by everyone: We’re really grateful to everyone who made the event possible – the players from both soaps of course, Worcester City for letting us use their ground and of course all the spectators who flocked in to watch – it was truly amazing to see the ground packed and hear the response to the teams as they ran out on to the pitch. The amount we raised from the event is vital to the work we do supporting people with leukaemia and associated blood disorders, their families and their carers. We can’t thank everyone who helped us on the day and in the lead up to the event enough! Huge thanks go to local radio station Wyvern FM without whom the event would not have been such a great success.”
The event saw the first public appearance of Bertie Blood Cell – Leukaemia CARE’s new fundraising mascot – who entertained the crowd before and during the match – even coming on to the pitch near the end to offer help to the increasingly beleaguered Coronation Street goalkeeper! Bertie’s next appearance will be when he takes part in the London Marathon on 23rd April – covering the full 26 miles ‘+’ course in London. He was pleased to meet up on the pitch with Lauren Soley of Kingswinford, who won the competition to name him, who then enjoyed watching the match with her dad!
The success of the event owed much to a large number of volunteers and if anyone would like to volunteer for future events, you can contact Leukaemia CARE on 01905 755 977.
The event was a complete success and seems likely to be repeated next year! Watch out for details!
Celebrities taking part in the match included:
Nick Pickard (Tony Hutchinson – Hollyoaks)
Chris Fountain (Justin Burton – Hollyoaks)
Matt Milburn (Joe Spencer – Hollyoaks)
John Pickard (Dominic – Hollyoaks)
Guy Burnett (Craig Dean – Hollyoaks)
Anthony Quinlan (Gilly – Hollyoaks)
Warren Brown (Andy Holt – Hollyoaks)
Chris Perry-Metcalf (Togger – Grange Hill)
Paul Byat (Mike Dixon – Brookside)
Ryan Thomas (Jason Grimshaw – Coronation Street)
Sam Robertson ( Adam Baldwin – Coronation Street)
Danny Young (Warren Baldwin – Coronation Street)
Jimmy McKenna (Jack Osbourne – Hollyoaks) was Hollyoaks coach!
For further information, please contact:
Louise Carlin or Claire Rowland , Leukaemia CARE – 01905 755 977
or
Steve Paddock or Michele Turner, Market Link PR – 01905 726 575

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.