Chart toppers, soap stars and reality TV personalities heading to Dorchester for charity footy match
Dorchester's Avenue Stadium will host a celebrity football match to raise money for Tommy's
A football match packed with celebrities will be taking place at Dorchester's Avenue Stadium this September.
Sellebrity Soccer have partnered with fundraiser Graham Butler from Weymouth to put on the event.
The organisation travel around the country to a variety of stadiums, from grassroot grounds to Premier League stadiums, raising money for charities in the area.
They’ve raised £1.3 million pounds for local charities, Graham Butler said: “It's one of those things, it’s the power of football and it’s the power of the people. It’s just amazing that somewhere like Weymouth, Dorchester and Portland, not big areas of interest, can get people to make the effort and travel down to support charities.”
Chart toppers, soap stars and reality TV personalities will all headline the event… And although no names have been cemented, previous stars to play include James Arthur, Jack Whitehall, Arg (from Towie) and Dean Gaffney, to name just a few.
This isn’t the only fundraising event Graham Butler is holding. He’s hosting a chilli eating contest, strongman competition, quiz, a live gig and disco with the Veterans Hub at Wyke Smugglers.
But it will all culminate in the London Landmarks Skyscraper Challenge on September 9 and 10.
The challenge involves a ‘tower run’ up 42 floors (1,092 steps) of The Cheesegrater before abseiling 224m off the side of the building.
Graham will be 1 of 700 people worldwide to take part in the event, he said: “It's my last fundraiser because I have early on-set arthritis in my both of my knees and I want to go out with a bang! I've got my eyes set on being the number one fundraiser for the event.”
He has raise more than £3000 so far but he isn’t satisfied, “I don't feel proud because I'm nowhere near where I want to be with it,” Graham said.
He added: “I am aiming to raise £8,716.23, which would surpass the amount I raised for The Lullaby Trust when I ran the London Marathon in 2015. This would mean I would also personally break the £40k point for money raised for charity.”
All proceeds will go to Tommy's who fund research into miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth and provide pregnancy health information to parents. They believe “it is unacceptable that one in four women lose a baby during pregnancy and birth.”
Graham said: “The money will towards more research into why miscarriages take place. If you look at Cancer Research UK, for years we didn't know what was happening but the money that’s gone to them proves that this funding works. Hopefully in years to come people won't have to be disheartened by losing a child.”