A team of Hospiscare staff and volunteers swapped their uniforms for shin pads when they took part in a charity football match.

The team took on Topsham Town Veterans at Topsham Town’s ground to raise funds for the charity.

Around 200 spectators attended and, as well as enjoying the match, which finished 5-1 to Topsham, they also enjoyed a range of stalls, a barbecue, a raffle and a bouncy castle.

This was the second running of the event, which was the brainchild of father and daughter Hospiscare nurses Neil and Cherry McDiarmid, and it raised �1,400 – a big increase on last year.

Hospiscare community fundraiser Tracey Skinner said: “It was a really successful afternoon, and it was great to get people there to raise vital funds for the hospice.

“For patients and their families, it’s a way for them to support the hospice and, if the families have been recently bereaved, then it’s something they can go to, because they would know a lot of the nurses and staff at the hospice who were playing.”

Tracey says Hospiscare hopes to return for another game next year, and said: “We could do a five-a-side football tournament for young people in the morning, and then have the adults in the afternoon, to make it an all-day event.

“We just want to raise more money and make the event grow and, as Topsham Town support Hospiscare anyway, it’s nice to be able to do it at their ground.”