Friends of the late Desmond Jenkins are taking part in a charity football match at the Charles Ground tonight (Thursday) to recoup cash stolen from a collection in his name.

Among the money taken from Deal Town FC’s safe in the burglary a fortnight ago was a £130 collection, which had been made for Demelza Hospice Care for Children.

It was collected at a school reunion at the clubhouse, and because the keen supporter was their mutually absent friend, they collected funds in his honour for his favourite charity.

"Everybody at the club is pulling together and they are determined to move on” - Arron Skirrow, former vice chairman, Deal Town FC

Tonight’s match will be between former players from the old Deal and District Sunday League side Frames, who Mr Jenkins used to play for and a team made up of members of the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club Artisan Golfers’ Association.

Former Deal Town vice-chairman Arron Skirrow, a member of the Artisan Golfers’ Association, said: “After the break-in, the lads at the Artisans had a chat about what we could do to help and we came up with the idea of the charity soccer match.

“A lot of the members of the Artisans used to play for Deal Town anyway, while Des and myself used to play for Frames, so it seemed the obvious thing to do.

“Familiar old Deal Town faces like Simon Bryant, Jamie Marriott, Liam Fox and “Chopper” Gilmore will be playing for the Artisans, while Dan Thatcher has worked hard to get a lot of the old Frames team back together."

He added: “We’ve also got Matt McCaughan as referee and Jason Thompson and Geoff Smith running the line, and everybody at Deal Town has been really helpful.

“Through donations from players, directors and supporters, the club has already raised over double the amount of the original collection, and we are obviously hoping to raise a lot more on Thursday.”

In last week’s report, he said he hoped the only winners out of this would be Demelza.

Thursday night’s match kicks off at 7.30pm and the entrance gate and clubhouse will be open from 7pm. There will be no set admission charge but spectators will be invited to make a donation, and there will also be a raffle.

Apart from stealing a sizeable amount of cash, the burglars also left a trail of destruction in the new clubhouse, which opened last year.

Mr Skirrow, who played a prominent role in the project, added: “I was gutted when I first heard about it but everybody at the club is pulling together and they are determined to move on.”

Deal Town chairman Rob Marriott gave a statement to police at the weekend, and a police press officer said earlier this week: “No arrests have been made to date but inquiries are ongoing and the appeal for witnesses still stands.”

If you were a witness or know who carried out the burglary, contact police on 101, quoting crime reference ZY/42312/16. If you would prefer to remain anonymous please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.