Manchester attack heroes to face Hilton staff in charity football match for Chloe and Liam Together Forever Trust

The teenagers, aged 17 and 19, respectively, were two of the 22 people killed when a suicide bomber struck at the end of the Ariana Grande concert on May 22.

Their deaths devastated their families, friends and work colleagues.

To channel their heartache and to turn what was a horrific atrocity into something good, their parents came together to launch the Chloe and Liam Together Forever Trust.

The Trust aims to support aspiring young performers and sportspeople to reach their full potential through the help of bursaries.

In a show of support emergency service personnel who were called to help those caught up in the terror attack are joining forces with staff from the Hilton in Gateshead where Liam and Chloe worked to take part in a football match in their honour.

The game, which will take place at Mariner’s Park - the home of South Shields Football Club - has been organised by Russ Durham - a hotel concierge with Hilton Gateshead.

It will be held on Sunday, May 13 from noon.

Mr Durham said: “We, as a hotel, wanted to do something for the Trust and in memory of Liam and Chloe, so we thought we would arrange a football match against the Hilton in Manchester.

“We chose that hotel as that was the one they should have returned to that night.

“Then we thought we would ask the emergency services to see if they would be interested and they came back to say they would send a full team up representing all the emergency services who were actively involved in the incident - all of whom were directly involved in the aftermath.

“It’ll be the Hilton team against the heroes.”

The game will be played in three 30 minute sections with Hilton Gateshead taking on The combined Emergency services of Greater Manchester.

Throughout the event there will be a number of performances from singers who have benifitted from the Trust in some way.

Mr Durham added: “We all knew Liam and Chloe personally, and since it happened we wanted to do something to pay our own tribute to them.

“They were a lovely couple and everyone thought so much of them.

“Because its around the anniversary we hope it will help to give people a sense of closure and a chance to remember them.
“We want to take a bad incident and turn into something good. And to have as many people as possible to come down and enjoy the day.”

The game will come a week after Chloe’s dad Mark and brother Scott will take part in a football match with teams made up of family and friends of the couple, at a game being played on May 7.

The match will also be played at the grounds of South Shields Football Club.

Kick off will be at 1pm with a bouncy castle for youngsters, food and drink and a range of raffle prizes up for grabs.