THE cast of Hollyoaks have pledged their support to a charity football match in memory of local martial arts club owner Paul Woods.

Taekwondo club owner Paul passed away in December 2016 from dilated cardiomyopathy - a condition which means the heart becomes enlarged and cannot pump blood effectively.

Since his death, Paul's family have worked tirelessly to raise money for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in his memory and so far raised more than £5,000.

Now, for their last ever football fundraiser on Sunday, May 19 at Ashville Football Club, the family have enlisted the help of the Hollyoaks cast in a bid to raise as much money as possible.

Paul's daughter-in-law Jennie, from Prenton, told the Globe: "Paul managed several football teams over the years and owned a martial arts club, Master Paul Woods Wirral Taekwondo.

"When Paul passed away his wife Julie and sons Neil (my husband) Mark, his wife Laura and family decided to raise as much money for BHF in Pauls memory as possible.

"We thought that an annual football match would be very fitting.

"In 2017, we held the first match at Ashville football club and then last year we held it at Shaftesbury Football Club.

Wirral Globe:

"Currently our fundraising for BHF exceeds £5,000. We have decided that this will be our final year and we wanted to make it as big and as successful as possible.

"Everyone has been so kind supporting us by playing in and attending these matches, we've had people help by collecting raffle prizes, printing programs etc, the list goes on.

"The cast of Hollyoaks have kindly agreed to play against Paul's XI this year with the help of Nic Pickard who plays Tony Hutchinson in the soap arranging this."

The fundraiser promises to be fun for all the family with face-painting, a bouncy castle and food stalls.

Jennie added: "On the day we have lots going on.

"There will be a bouncy castle, sweet stall, the Bhaji box selling food along with us selling hot drinks, burgers/hotdogs.

"We have Showtime Ice cream attending, the bar in the clubhouse will be open, Balloontoons doing face-painting, Phoenix Henna, there's a photographer who will capture all these memories and our friend Julie Mancini offering sports therapy to both teams.

"There will be BHF merchandise being sold and raffle tickets too ready for the big draw after the match. We have fantastic prizes to be won.

"Once that's all been done, we then have our friend Shaun and his fantastic band Super-sonic performing.

"We would love it if as many people as possible could come along and support this event."

The Paul Woods Memorial Cup charity football match takes place on Sunday, May 19 at Ashville Football Club, Wallasey.

Entrance is £2 per adult, free entry for children.

If you cannot make the event, please donate in Paul's memory here: https://giftofhope.bhf.org.uk/in-memory/Paul-Woods