THE memory of an old school friend was kept alive at the seventh annual memorial match in his honour this weekend.

James Hicks, Tom Austin, Dave Summersbee and Stuart Lucas held this year's Stephen Hepple Memorial Cup at Wantage Town Football Club on Sunday.

The game and family fun day are held in honour of the former King Alfred's school pupil, know to friends as Hepps, who passed away in September 2011 aged 24 after a long battle with leukaemia.

The friends use the annual fixture to raise money for Sobell House Hospice in Oxford where Stephen stayed.

Mr Hicks, 30, who lives in Wantage, said: "It went really well: we've raised £1,100 already and the online fundraising page is still open."

Mr Hicks and Mr Austin, who run children's coaching business Serious 4 Sport, joined up with Mr Summersbee and Mr Lucas to hold the first SHMC in 2011 and were overwhelmed by the response.

That first match raised £2,000 and was followed by two other games in 2012 and 2013 which between them raised £3,000.

The tradition has now raised some £7,000 for the hospice.

Mr Hicks said they had always been driven by the memory of their inspirational friend who was 'the biggest battler they ever knew'.

He said: "He was such a genuine guy: he never moaned once, he just got on with it.

"He was a lovely, outgoing person and nothing ever got him down – he was always positive."

Shortly after his death, Stephen's family put a notice in the Oxford Mail to say 'thank you' for more than £1,600 in donations in his memory, which they shared between Sobell House and Kamran's Ward at Oxford Children's Hospital.

On Sunday, people from across Wantage and Oxfordshire contributed to make this year's fun day go with a bang.

During the day at the Manor Road ground, there were cake stalls, a gin cocktail bar, sumo suits, a bouncy castle and a zumba workout.

In the match itself, a team of Stephen's old friends played a team of his former fellow footballers from the Grove Challengers, and this year's cup was taken by the 'friends'.

As always, one of the main attractions was the prize raffle including a vacuum cleaner donated by Miele of Abingdon, Oxford United tickets and gifts from Williams F1 of Grove and other local businesses.

Mr Hicks said the team had already started planning next year's event which, he promised, would be bigger and better than ever.

Make a donation to Sobell House in Stephen's memory online at justgiving.com/fundraising/shmffd