Leyton Orient players and staff took over the running of a restaurant to help raise money for two of their charity partners – Haven House and St Joseph’s Hospice.

The evening was a great success as almost £600 was raised by fans buying tickets, entering the raffle and putting money in the charity buckets.

And the players surpassed all expectations as they ensured more than 175 customers were fed and watered throughout the evening at Nando’s in Brentwood.

The club has agreed to match the money raised to take the total to near £1,200.

All of the Os squad, along with the management staff, rolled their sleeves up to get stuck in as they took on all of the jobs within the restaurant – cleaning, manning the tills, waiting on the customers, washing up and hosting.

“We all really enjoyed it,” said skipper Nathan Clarke. “It was great fun getting stuck into all the work and it was funny seeing how into it some of the lads were getting. I think it got a bit competitive. We were only too happy to come down though as a squad as it was a bit of fun for a great cause.”