OVER £2,000 was raised from a charity football match held at Perranporth Football Club on Sunday, September 1, which was organised by the late Ryan Saltern.

Ryan, 31, who was brought up in Delabole but lived in Probus with his wife Cath and son Harry, died in a incident in St Teath on Saturday, July 28, but before then had helped, along with fellow Royal Mail colleague Jake Merrifield, set up a charity football match between his former employers BT and the Royal Mail.

Jake said: “Ryan said that BT have challenged us to a game and we thought why don’t we do it for charity or for a local family in need.

“That’s when we found out about two-year-old Chester Grigg, who has a rare form of brain cancer. From there we got in touch with his family and got them and Chester on board and it just snowballed from there.

“Perranporth FC volunteered their services to host and then we decided to do a raffle and Ryan sorted us a kit from M.A. Grigg Country Stores in Sticker. They paid for a kit for us and sponsored it, and then once Ryan had put the details up on Facebook, it went crazy with everyone wanting to get on board.

“Then what happened with Ryan happened midway through the process so it took a backseat for a week or two. But then I spoke with Ryan’s family and then they told me how much time behind the scenes he had put into it and really thought it should continue for Chester but also in loving memory of Ryan.

“We then basically had two weeks of raffle ticket selling and advertising etc before the big day.”

Jake was delighted with how it went, adding: “First of all the sun was shining which was a blessing.

“There was a minute’s applause for Ryan before the game, which was won by the Royal Mail 7-3. It was a very good match which was very well contested and played in great spirits.

“We had an attendance of between 250 and 300 and they got to see the cup being presented to Ryan’s dad Mark who made an appearance on the pitch for the last 15 minutes and almost scored, as well as taking the captain’s armband.

“The cup was presented to him by Chester and then the raffle started, which had so many amazing prizes, which included an Amazon Echo Dot, a Jamie Carragher signed shirt which was in the auction and Soccer AM tickets.

“All the prizes were raffled on the day inside the clubhouse.”

Jake added: “We’ve now got a final total of £2,357 which will go to Chester himself, while an amount will also go to the Brain Tumour Charity and the Children’s Leukaemia and Cancer Trust.

“I’d like to thank everyone who turned up to support but I want people to know it wasn’t just me, it was more Ryan who organised it. He was the driving force behind it so he deserves more than me.

“It was an emotional and jubilant day at the same time. With Ryan being the competitor he was, he wanted us to win the match and bring home the Chester Cup but he would also have been so proud of the day and how much we raised.”

Mark added: “It was an overwhelming day as Ryan organised it, but I was proud to wear his kit and play for him and obviously lift the cup at the end in his memory.

“He’d have been so proud of the amount raised, which would have been far more than he’d have expected. I’m really proud of what he did.”