A football team for dads who have lost babies set out on a coastal walk to make a difference to the lives of poorly children.

Players of SANDS United FC Dover donned their training kit and left Dover seafront on Saturday bound for the children’s ward at the Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital in Margate (QEQM).

There they handed dozens of teddy bears to poorly children who are being cared for in Rainbow Ward.

The team is one of a network throughout the UK representing the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity SANDS.

Not all players have lost a child. Some of them have been touched by tragedies among family members and friends. But all of the players use the team as a means to keep fit and spread awareness of the charity’s work.

Walk organiser Scott Castle, who undertook the walk for Brodie Scott, said the walking team of seven wore training kits, anticipating rugged terrain along coastal beaches and fields.

But the planned 22-mile feat was not without hiccups.

Five out of seven made it to the hospital, the others stoically negotiated unexpected streams and marshes at Pegwell Bay and had to go back on themselves.

It amounted to an extra six miles to their challenge.

He said: "When they arrived at the ward only two of the children were awake so the nurses allowed them to hand them two teddy bears. They gave the rest to the nurses to hand out when the children woke up."

Through sponsorship and collection buckets on the day they raised between £600 and £700, which they will present to SANDS in February.

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