Actor Steve McFadden may have made a name for himself playing the hard man in EastEnders, but he has proved once again that he does have a heart.

The 53-year-old, who has a home in Falmouth, was one of the first people to sign up for this year’s RNLI Castle to Castle swim which takes place between Falmouth and St Mawes on June 2.

Steve, who plays Phil Mitchell in the soap, has taken part in the swim several times and has always offered his support even when work commitments prevent him from actually participating.

This year he is once again free to take part and has already started training for the one mile swim between Pendennis and St Mawes castles.

Each year the Castle to Castle swim sees hundreds of people take to the water, each helping to raise thousands of pounds for the RNLI. Last year alone almost £30,000 was collected, all of which went towards helping support the RNLI lifeguard service.

This year’s swim will be held at midday on June 2, to coincide with a neap high tide – the lowest level of high tide.

The event can only cater for a maximum of 400 swimmers and is open to anyone over the age of 14. Participants should, though, be intermediate or experienced sea swimmers.

Anyone interested in taking part should email castle2castle@rnli.org.uk to register and application forms will be sent out over the coming weeks.