The England Football team will donate at least £1million to charitable causes ahead of the next World Cup.

The announcement made today (Saturday) forms part of a collective decision by the team to set up their own charitable trust, the Team England Footballers Charity.

Allied to the financial contribution being made, the Team England Footballers Charity will use the time, influence and reputation of the players to support charities including the Association of Children’s Hospices; WellChild; the Bobby Moore Fund and the Professional Footballers Association Charity Initiatives.

Speaking about the Team England Footballers Charity, 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."

The sum of £1 million will primarily be raised through the players donating all of their England match fees to the players’ charity, but it’s expected the minimum figure of £1 million will be exceeded by additional charitable activities undertaken by the players.

In addition to supporting the other charities, the Team England Footballers Charity is planning to launch its own grassroots initiative to help disadvantaged youth teams across the country whilst continuing to support the FA and their grassroots and charity campaigns.

Sir Trevor Brooking, The FA's Director of Football, has marked out the ages between 5 and 11 years old as a 'golden age of learning'. Says Brooking: "Children should have a fun, safe introduction to the game and be free to develop their skills with quality coaching in an encouraging atmosphere."

Stephanie Moore, Founder of The Bobby Moore Fund said: "45 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 ten 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) asserted: "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."

Brian Barwick, Chief Executive of The FA said: "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."

Further details on the Team England Footballers Charity will be announced in the following few months.