When soccer boss Jason Lynn heard that desperately-ill Lily Cater may not survive to be five he immediately thought of his own two small children and knew he had to pitch in and help.

Mr Lynn who runs Bradford based five-a-side football company, SoccerCity, is hosting the Lily Cater Football Tournament to raise money for the one-year-old's appeal.

Mr Lynn said: "I saw Lily's picture and read about what she and her family are going through and I was touched.

"It made me think that this could happen to anybody and reminded me of how lucky me and my wife Lisa are that our two children are healthy."

Mr Lynn, of Baildon, said any parent would want to do something to help when they heard little Lily's tragic story.

The tiny tot is battling a killer heart condition that is so rare it affects only two babies a year in Britain. Her parents have been told Lily could die at any moment and have begun a desperate race to find a cure for their baby.

Lily, of Low Moor, Bradford, has pulmonary atresia, a condition that means the heart and the main blood vessel to the lungs have failed to develop properly.

She has difficulty breathing, poor circulation and often turns blue - especially when she plays or gets excited.

Doctors have said they cannot cure Lily's condition and have told her parents Michala and Paul Cater she will die of heart and lung failure before her fifth birthday.

Her family, however, has begun a desperate bid to find a cure and have launched the Lily Cater Cardiac Trust to help her and raise awareness of the condition.

"The appeal is doing brilliantly so far," said mum Michala.

She said a cosmetics event held to raise money for the appeal last weekend raised £300 and family and friends raised £6,000 from a fun run last month.

"We should hopefully hit the £10,000 target if enough teams sign up for the football tournament," said Michala.

"Lily is a beautiful little girl and we want as many teams as possible to sign up," said Mr Lynn.

The company, which also operates centres in Leeds, Huddersfield and Fareham, Hampshire, is donating the use of the centre for the day and supplying referees for the matches.

Operations manager, Steve Omatseone, who will be overseeing the tournament said: "We also want teams to get sponsored for their matches to ensure we raise as much money as possible, so even if you can't enrol a team you can still donate by sponsoring one."

SoccerCity, based in the grounds of Thornton Grammar School, in Thornton Road, is hosting the Lily Cater tournament on Sunday, May 29, from noon.

To register a team call SoccerCity on: (01274) 883753.