Gareth Barry and David Murphy help jobless youngsters

Apr 24 2008 By Emma Cullwick

THEY may be rivals on the pitch, but Blues defender David Murphy and Villa captain Gareth Barry stood united as they backed a campaign to help jobless youngsters.

The players have pledged to help run The Prince's Trust Football Initiative,backed by the Premier League, Professional Footballers' Association and the Football Foundation.

The scheme has been running for more than ten years and has so far helped more than 11,000 young people from across the country.

Now the Prince's Trust has pledged to plough a further £2 million into the scheme and it hopes the cash will help a further 7,000 unemployed young people to find a job or start a training scheme over the next three years.

Gareth and David will play their own part by helping to run 12-week football training sessions, which are aimed at helping to boost young people's confidence, teamwork and communication skills.

The ultimate aim is to encourage them to find their feet in the world of employment.

Gareth, an ambassador of the Prince's Trust - a charity set up by the Prince of Wales to help disadvantaged youngsters, said: "Sometimes all you need is someone to take a chance on you to prove how successful you can be.

"The Prince's Trust is all about second chances and I have certainly seen some success stories come out of this charity."

Aston Villa and Birmingham City have spent the last decade supporting the Prince's Trust and regularly give youngsters tours of their stadiums, motivational talks, and healthy eating workshops.

David said: "When I left my last club I gave my signing-on fee back to its academy because I feel it's important that clubs invest in developing young players.

"I feel the same way about these young people, just a little bit of my time will hopefully help them develop skills that will help them into work."

* For more information about The Prince's Trust visit www. princes-trust.org.uk or call 0800 842 842.