Roots Hall charity football match in memory of young man

Dan Turner, a personal trainer at Stackhouse Gym in Westcliff, has set up the match in memory of Jude Harvey, 19, to raise cash for the British Heart Foundation.

Jude, from Southend, died after suffering a cardiac arrest while swimming in the sea in Ibiza last summer.

Jude Harvey (Image: Dan Turner)

In a bid to raise awareness around the risks of cardiac arrests in young people following Jude's death, Dan has organised the match between Stackhouse Gym and Puregym for May 12 and is hoping to pack out the Southend United stadium with fans.

He said: “We have had two young men around 20 who died suddenly in our community and when given the opportunity to do a match in support of the heart foundation, we wanted to do it for them.

“These were boys we knew really well, and it was horrific for the community here."

Dan Turner who is organising the event (Image: Dan Turner)

Dan said he is trying to create a lively and energetic community match with a focus on making Roots Hall feel as full as possible.

“This means the world to us, we are trying to create a lively match with lots of seats filled and we have chosen an evening time when less people work to try and sell as many £5 tickets as possible,” he said.

“At half-time, we will have a penalty shootout for the kids with an FA referee on the pitch, to help liven things up.

“As fans of Southend, it is really good we get to do this in Roots Hall as well, a lot of the club’s recent issues have been terrifying but it is really poignant we get to do this here.”

For more information on the event, Dan can be contacted on Instagram at Danturnerpt101.