A Barnes story writing competition has roped in celebrities to recreate a football match during the First World War between British and German soldiers from more than a century ago.

Screen Your Story, a screenwriting and filmmaking competition for children, is hosting the match which will include comedian Jack Whitehall, former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon, Made In Chelsea star Jamie Laing and the president of a Borussia Dortmund fan club Benjamin McFadden.

The Christmas truce was a series of unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front in Belgium and France around Christmas Eve in 1914, with British, French and German soldiers crossing the trenches to exchange seasonal greetings.

Several accounts have stated that the truce involved one or more football matches played in ‘no man’s land’, and one of the earliest reports of this can be found in a letter written by a doctor that was later published in The Times on January 1, 1915.

Mr Whitehall will captain the England XI while Mr McFadden will lead the German side at Barnes Elms Sports Club with all money raised going to the Prostate Cancer UK charity.

Anne Mullins, the founder of Screen Your Story, said: “I was talking to Michael Morpurgo [head judge at Screen Your Story] and he told me about this book, ‘The Best Christmas Present in the World’, and I thought it would be a fabulous idea for our competition’s theme this year to be about homecoming, which chimes in with this.

“Michael was telling me about this book and I asked whether he could come and read it for us and he said he would. But unfortunately he has had to pull out because of his throat.

“I asked Jack if he would captain an England team if I put it together and he agreed, so the idea just grew.”

Instead, actor Nick Waring will be reading an eyewitness account which narrates one of the football match on Christmas Eve of 1914.

She added: “I started Screen Your Story three years ago, which is a screenwriting and filmmaking competition for children.

“It began just being in the local area but now it has spread, with entries from Yorkshire and even enquiries from India.

“Children write a story of up to 500 words with a particular theme and the winning stories are all published in a really lovely full illustration book, and the top story in each age group is turned into a film which is then shown at the Olympic Studios cinema in [Church Lane] Barnes”.

“Jack Whitehall presents the awards and we have a huge gala once a year where all the prizes are given out.”

In addition, there will be a Christmas review, ‘The Gift of Christmas’ the day before the match with actress Virginia McKenna and will involve music, readings, carol songs and mince pies at St Mary’s Church in Barnes.

Proceeds from both the Christmas review and the football match, which will be at Barn Elms Sports Centre on December 9 and 10 will be given to charity Prostate Cancer UK.

The review will be at 6pm and the football match at 1pm the following day.

To purchase tickets, visit: ticketsource.co.uk/stmarybarnes or to find out more about Screen Your Story, go to screenyourstory.org