Former EastEnders' star Danny-Boy Hatchard visits Northampton schools ahead of charity football match

Ex-EastEnders stars Danny-Boy Hatchard (Lee Carter), Jake Wood (Max Branning) and Queen of the Jungle, Jacqueline Jossa, are all set to appear at the Northampton Town Football Club celebrity charity football match this year.Yesterday (Thursday), Danny-Boy spent time with students at Caroline Chisholm School, The Duston School and Weston Favell Academy to promote the game and he gave away 'VIP prizes' to lucky pupils so they can meet some of the star players in the dugout.

Danny-Boy Hatchard, who has joined the cast of Our Girl, playing the role of Private Rhett ‘Cheese’ Charlton in the fourth series, told the Chronicle & Echo that these matches are his way of giving back.

"I've lost count of how many of these charity matches I've played in, it must be over 30 now," he said.

"I love playing, and all of the proceeds go to the charity. Me and Kevin from Sellebrity Soccer have been friends for a while now and I support what he's doing - he's done some fantastic work and I wanted us to get over the £1 million mark... and now we're on our way to raising £2 million!

"It's really important for me to give back, this is one of the many things that I do but it's also great for me because I get to play football, keep fit, and have a laugh with some of my friends."

Also, among the line-up are Lee Ryan from Blue, Dean Gaffney from EastEnders and a whole host of Love Island stars including Danny Williams, Josh Ritchie, Sam Gowland, Dom Lever, Marvin Brooks, Sherif Lanre, Callum McLeod and Kieran Nicholls.

In 2018, the funds raised from the Sellebrity Soccer match were donated to the Northampton Town Community Trust and Archie's Army, which paid for Archie Kambanis of Duston, to have a post-surgery bed.

Archie has a rare muscle-wasting condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and was diagnosed with SMA when he was just two, which means his muscles will eventually shrink and die but his brain will remain unaffected.

The third charity game to take place at the Cobblers' ground will take place at 3pm on Sunday, April 19.

This year the game is supporting NTFC 'On Our Doorstep' initiative and Young Carers.

Special seating around the dugouts is £20 per adult and £10 for an under 16. Tickets are still on sale from ntfcdirect.co.uk while for details of hospitality, mascot packages and matchday experiences, please call 01604 683734 or email [email protected].