MORTON officials have donated four home tops to a quartet of young fans as they set off on an epic charity fundraiser.

Cappielow chiefs have reached out to help the Matthew Woodman Foundation, set up by the family of the Greenock tot who tragically died at just 20-months-old from an undetected heart defect.

Matthew passed away on the Isle of Lewis while on holiday at his granny’s house.

Twins Arran and Lewis Goetz, nine, who are Matthew’s cousins, and their two friends Charlie, 10, and Grace Morrison, five, are walking 300 miles from their homes on the island to Greenock.

Club spokesperson Gerry McDade said: “It’s a superb thing that we’ve been able to help such a locally based charity like this.

“I think it’s a fantastic thing that the kids are doing.

“The fact that it’s Matthew’s cousins gives it that bit more poignancy, but it also gives it a bit of reality to the situation.

“Once the foundation told us about the charity, we approached our chief executive Dave MacKinnon and we agreed that is was something we were desperate to help with.

“There’s obviously a huge Morton connection with the family and I understand that Matthew’s father is a big Morton fan. It’s just something we wanted to do as a club in the community.

“I want to say a massive thank you to Keith Wilson at Smith’s because they were absolutely superb from the moment we contacted them. They had everything dispatched and away in 48-hours ready for the kids to start their walk."

They youngsters have already raised over £2,000 and are halfway through their one million steps to complete the journey.

Matthew's mum Kim said: “I would like to thank Greenock Morton and Smiths for donating the tops to my nephews and their best friends.

“Morton are a huge part of our community and when Matthew passed we requested that everyone wore club tops with ‘Matthew’ and the number two on the back.

“We appreciate all the club did for us then and now and we hope this relationship continues. We and the Matthew Woodman Foundation are very grateful.”

Mr McDade added: “We’d love to welcome the kids and Matthew's family to Cappielow in the future.

“We’ll be working with the charity closely moving forward.

“The fact the walk is replicating Matthew’s final journey too is a really nice touch so we’ve been delighted to help out in any way we can.”

The club says there has been a big response to support the charity from players and staff alike.

Mr McDade said: “Once everyone at the club, including the players had heard the story. They have supported it on social media, which has been great to see.

“It’s a local story that appeared first in the Telegraph and we are a local club. We all identify with it.

“I think that it’s really important that we can assist charities like this and the people of Inverclyde.

“We are more than a football club - we have a responsibility to Inverclyde to help where and when we can."