SOME 3,000 people came together for a family fun day and football tournament celebrating the life of a much-loved man from Turlin Moor.

The event saw families flock to Turlin Moor Recreation Ground on Saturday, where a day of fun and football was held in honour of Shane Stanley, a family man and keen footballer who died suddenly from an undetected heart condition in January last year, aged 31.

A total of 32 six-a-side teams battled it out for The Stanley Cup at the day-long event. In addition there was a boys against girls football competition, in which Shane's children took part, and a wealth of entertainment for families, including a climbing wall, pottery making, photo-booth, nail and face painting, craft stalls, games, food stands and a massive 100-prize raffle.

The event, organised by Shane's friends and family, follows the success of last year's fun day and tournament which raised £13,500. One of the organisers, Julie Bagwell, said she thought they were on course to beat that amount.

"It's all in memory of Shane," she added. "The football teams all come together to remember him - there are lots of people who played with him, managers, kids he trained - and the whole of Turlin Moor are here today to celebrate another day in memory of Shane. We wanted it to be fun. He was a fun guy and he wanted his kids to be happy - he was happy when he saw them happy."

She added: "It's been fantastic today - the turn out, the weather - it's been absolutely amazing."

Last year's inaugural event funded a heart screening day for 14 to 35 year olds at the Adam Practice, Hamworthy. There were more than 90 heart screens, which resulted in one referral.