A pair of north Norfolk youth football club supporters celebrated the New Year in teeth-chattering style, when they took an early-moring dip in the sea at Sheringham to raise funds for kit and equipment.

Mum-of-three Sarah Knowles, who is fundraiser for Bodham-based club the East Coast Warriors, came up with the idea of doing a charity swim and asked her father-in-law Royston Young to join her.

'Because the children couldn't do it for safety reasons, I thought that as Royston had bought all the team sweatshirts and he's a lot of fun, he might like to give it a go,' care assistant Mrs Knowles said.

Watched by a crowd of family, friends and club members, Mrs Knowles, whose sons, Jayden, 9, and Reggie, 7, are club members, braved the waves wearing a football shirt and jogging bottoms, while Mr Young, who owns Roy Boys Café in Station Road, Sheringham, took to the water in pink cycling shorts and a multi-coloured swimsuit borrowed from his wife Wendy.

His twelve-year-old grandson Lennie, who is a club member, turned out to cheer the pair on from the prom. 'I think my granddad is crazy, but it's pretty cool,' he said.

Warriors chairman Ian Barrell thanked the pair for their efforts, which boosted the club's coffers by more than £300.

Founded fifteen years ago by local man Shane Clark, the East Coast Warriors has, in recent years, seen a dramatic drop in membership, and is now down to only three teams.

'At one time, we had 12 teams and catered for ages right from six to 16, but, for a number of reasons, we have lost a lot of coaches and kids so we would like to build that up again,' Mr Barrell said.

'The club is more about kids' fitness and social skills than their ability and we want to make sure there is still football for all for our local children in the future.'

East Coast Warriors Football club currently has U8, U10 and U13 teams, anyone interested in joining can contact Mr Barrell on 07468 565277 or email ian@eastcoastwarriorsfc.co.uk