England's players have agreed to donate all their match
fees leading up to the 2010 World Cup to charity.
The gesture is expected to raise at least £1million for charitable
causes, which should rise as individual players get involved in
additional charity work.
The team have founded the Team England Footballers Charity trust,
and England captain John Terry said: "Each player in the England
squad works in some way with local or national charities but as a
team we decided to use our role as England footballers to not only
contribute money and our time but to also help raise awareness of
particular issues. Every player to a man is looking forward to
supporting our charity."
Among the charities set to benefit are the Association of
Children's Hospices, WellChild, the Bobby Moore Fund for cancer
research and the Professional Footballers Association Charity
Initiatives.
Stephanie Moore, founder of the Bobby Moore Fund said: "Forty-five
men and women die every day in the UK from bowel cancer, often
needlessly because, if bowel cancer is detected early enough, more
than eight out of 10 cases can be successfully treated.
"I'm overjoyed that the England squad has chosen to support the
Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK and know that Bobby would
have been delighted. Their help and involvement will be crucial in
raising awareness and funds for vital research."
Barbara Gelb, Chief Executive of the Association of Children's
Hospices (ACH) said: "We are very proud to have been personally
chosen by the players themselves and we are also incredibly excited
about working with the team to make a real difference in so many
ways to thousands of children who won't live to reach adulthood and
their families. This really is teamwork at the highest
level!"
Football Association chief executive Brian Barwick added: "I'm
obviously very happy that the whole squad has taken this initiative
and will distribute funds across a deserving range of charities. It
puts an extra kick into them appearing for their country."