The Team England Footballers Charity launch a new campaign to raise awareness for their charity partners. …

April 23rd 2010: The Team England Footballers Charity today launched a new campaign to raise awareness for their charity partners. The campaign entitled, ‘Together We Are Stronger’, timed to launch on St George’s Day will be used across the country in the media and on advertising billboards in the run up to this year’s World Cup.

Steven Gerrard explained: “We came up with the idea of us standing alongside our charity partners to give them visibility and a voice at a time when the country is getting into World Cup gear and looking towards the team. People talk about footballers being stars but it is the likes of Elaine and the other WellChild nurses who are the real stars in life. I also met Luke who is a great guy. He’s has had problems but to his credit he is turning things around and he’s taking part in FA coaching qualifications that we are funding as part of our Outreach Programme.”

John Terry said: “Contrary to what some people think, we’re not living in a bubble and we do want to help people but you don’t always hear about it. Meeting Tia who is representing Children’s Hospices UK was an absolute pleasure for me. What a fantastic young girl she is.”

Robert Green asserted: “On a personal level the charity that I feel particularly strongly for, partly because of the fact I play for West Ham, is the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK which is a tremendous charity bringing good out of a really difficult situation.”

‘Together We Are Stronger’ follows the 2009 imagery campaign entitled ‘There is Moore to know’ that was devised by the players to help the Bobby Moore Fund raise awareness of bowel cancer, the disease that killed Bobby Moore aged just 51. “44 men and women die of bowel cancer every day, but nine out of ten cases can be treated successfully if detected early enough. We want to keep raising awareness of this disease, to help save lives.” Rio Ferdinand.

Speaking about The PFA, Gareth Barry said: “It’s not just about playing football for us, we realise we can use our status to improve people’s lives and we’re making sure we use our profile in a positive way to help make a difference to individuals and organisations across the country. Jimmy Greaves is a legend and I am proud to stand by his side in this campaign where he is representing The PFA. Much of the work we do with The PFA goes on behind the scenes but it’s important to support others in the game who are less fortunate that ourselves.”

Jermain Defoe commented: “Campaigns like this and the charity work we do means the world to us to be honest and we’re proud of what we are achieving off the pitch.”

The player’s ‘Together We Are Stronger’ message also reaches out to the fans whose support is crucial in the lead up to and during the World Cup tournament.

Steven Gerrard said: “We want to let the fans know that we’re pulling together in the right direction and we need their support. ‘Together We Are Stronger’ is a superb message to send out before the World Cup because for us to be successful in the summer everyone needs to stick together – the players, the manager and the supporters.”

“The support that travels with us in incredible. It means an awful lot to the players when they get to a ground and it’s packed with England fans, singing away with their flags. Hopefully we can go out to South Africa and do well. It’s a tough opening game against the USA but if we can do well and get better in each game we have a chance, especially with the fans behind us. I’m not going to come out and say we are going to win it, but with the quality in our squad, our fans behind us, and with a bit of luck, then who knows!” John Terry.

Leading sport photographer, John Davis shot the players in studio space in both London and Manchester,whilst world renowned photographer Terry O’Neill captured behind the scenes .

What the charity partners say:

Elaine O’Brien: “Any support that WellChild gets is excellent – the nurses can only do it with the funding behind it – and the England footballers have obviously kindly donated the match fees to WellChild which will help a long way to funding more research and nurses. On top of the money, the profile they have delivered for us is fantastic. I have been having a photo shoot with Steven Gerrard to try and promote the link between WellChild and the Team England Footballers Charity which I’ve really enjoyed. I’ll be cheering the team on and obviously hoping that they do really well – because we support them as much as they support us.”

Luke Roynon: “There are no words to describe how I feel about meeting Steven Gerrard, he was my idol growing up. I am involved in the shoot basically because at the age of 11, I was at Crystal Palace football club and picked up a really bad knee injury and from there my career just went downhill. I started doing things that I regret doing, I got into trouble and went down the wrong path. Eventually I got involved with the Prince’s Trust to better my life and from there the England team came in to pay for me to gain my FA coaching badge and I’m continuing to get other coaching qualifications and now coach young kids which means the world to me to me to be honest.  It’s nearly as good as meeting Steven Gerrard – nearly. I was shell shocked to actually sit down and have a conversation with him, and then he gave me a couple of pairs of his boots to take home. It’s the best thing I could have asked for.”

Stephanie Moore: “Bobby died of bowel cancer aged 51. Bowel cancer is a very curable disease – over 90% curable if diagnosed early – yet it is our second highest killing cancer in the UK. 44 men and women die every day from this disease – most of them should not be dying. Being associated with the England football team in particular was a real coup for bowel cancer. The disease is not an easy subject to talk about but the players handle it very, very well. Bowel cancer is a taboo subject in this country, so for them to come out and talk about bowel cancer is amazing and it makes people realise that we are actually all built the same, and we are vulnerable in the same way. The players get so much bad press but in fact what they are doing behind the scenes is enormous and people just don’t realise that. It is fitting that Bobby’s image be used in the ‘Together We Are Stronger’ campaign because Bobby is such a respected footballing legend that we are able to do something positive to make a difference with bowel cancer. As the players say, ‘Together We Are Stronger’ and together, we will beat cancer.”

Jimmy Greaves: “It means a great deal that the England players are contributing to the PFA’s charitable initiatives. I myself have been the beneficiary of a couple of new knees of late, and it was a tremendous boost for me to get two new knees. The current England squad, I think, are very generous in what they are doing and I had the honour of representing the PFA at a photo shoot for various charities that are supported by the Team England Footballers Charity. It has been a very moving couple of hours or so because we have seen a couple of the recipients of the charity. It brings you down to realising that there a lot of people in the world who do need help. Without being in anyway political – because it is not a political situation – it’s just other people who are in a position to help, are doing it and it is fantastic.”

Julian Hall CHUK Director of Fundraising speaking on behalf of Tia: “Children’s Hospices UK are really lucky, it’s been a fantastic partnership for us, in terms of the money which has been raised. We’ve also had fantastic visits to children’s hospices by players and that’s helped to create really special moments, because there are lots of young fans out there, who use children’s hospices, who can’t get to football matches as other kids do. The chance to see their heroes and meet them in the flesh has been spectacularly successful, and ultimately creates really special memories for the mums and dads as well as the families. I think what is so amazing is that when you think of these players and all the hype that surrounds them, when it comes down to it, they’re dads, and when they get within that hospice setting, which is a very home from home sort of environment, you see them revert to being dads. They all take a lot more time than you would expect to spend quality time with the children and there is a relationship that has built up. All of the hospices across the country will be watching the World Cup avidly as you would expect them to but now because the children know that the England team knows them and supports all the children’s hospices across the UK it makes it all that more special.”