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Calzaghe set to knock out competition at Stamford Bridge

Date: Thursday 14th May 2009                    

Contact: Claire Duncan                     

Phone: +44 (0)20 8394 8345

Email: Out of hours press phone: +44 (0)7943 809162     

Samaritans is charity of the year for star-studded football match

Undefeated world super-middleweight boxing champion Joe Calzaghe has announced he will be challenging fellow sports stars and celebrities at Samaritans’ Soccer Six tournament, taking place at Chelsea Football Club on Sunday 24th May.

Samaritans is Soccer Six’s charity of the year for the fifth year running and proceeds from ticket sales and celebrity donations will be given to the emotional support charity to ensure that Samaritans’ service remains available 24 hours a day to support anyone in emotional distress.

Calzaghe, former BBC Sports Personality of the Year, will be battling against teams made up of band members from music groups including JLS, The Hoosiers, The View, Babyshambles, and NDUBZ.  Other celebrities dusting off their football boots to support Samaritans will be actor Danny Dyer, X Factor finalists Austin Drage and Diana Vickers, models Caprice and Bianca Gascoigne, former Liberty X singer Michelle Heaton and stars from hit TV shows Skins, Shameless, Waterloo Road and Casualty. Ex-professional footballers Frank McAvennie and Neville Southall will also be taking part.

Samaritans’ Claire Duncan said: “It’s fantastic that Joe Calzaghe is supporting Samaritans at this year’s Soccer Six. His team will undoubtedly be strong contenders for the Championship trophy. Soccer Six is a great event that helps us to raise awareness of the 24:7 emotional support service we offer.”

For your chance to visit Chelsea FC at the historic Stamford Bridge Football Stadium and see who will triumph as 2009’s Samaritans’ Soccer Six champion log on to http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/ or call  0870 534 4444.

 

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Notes to editors

Ticket prices for Samaritans’ Soccer Six tournament:

Adult: £12

Child under 12 years: £10

About Samaritans

It is the aim of Samaritans to make emotional health a mainstream issue.  Samaritans' vision is for a society where fewer people die by suicide because people are able to share feelings of emotional distress openly without fear of being judged.  Samaritans believes that offering people the opportunity to be listened to in confidence, and accepted without prejudice, can alleviate despair and suicidal feelings.

Samaritans is a registered charity, founded in 1953, which offers 24-hour confidential emotional support to anyone in emotional distress.  The service is offered by 16,534 trained volunteers and is entirely dependent on voluntary support.  Across the UK, you can call Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 (1850 60 90 90 in the Republic of Ireland) email jo@samaritans.org, write to Samaritans at Chris, PO Box 9090, Stirling, FK8 2SA, or if you are deaf or hard of hearing use the single national minicom number 08457 90 91 92. Log on to www.samaritans.org for more information. Calls from BT will be charged at up to 2 pence per minute at all times. A call set-up fee of 7 pence applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers' charges may vary.