David Murphy and Gareth Barry with the Prince's Trust youngsters at Solihull College's Woodlands Campus.

Ahead of the Birmingham derby Blues defender David Murphy teamed up with Aston Villa counterpart Gareth Barry to launch a campaign to get the West Midlands' young unemployed into work.

Murphy and Barry put aside all thoughts of Sunday's big game to join forces and help disadvantaged young people through The Prince's Trust Football Initiative.

The players are dedicating their time to inspire and motivate participants on a Prince's Trust 12-week self-development programme, building key workplace skills such as confidence, teamwork and communication.

It helped mark the beginning of a £2m Prince's Trust initiative with the Premier League, Professional Footballers' Association and the Football Foundation. It aims to help more than 7,000 young people across England move into work or training over the next three years through football.

Trust ambassador and Blues full-back Murphy says: "When I left my last club I gave my signing-on fee back for the academy. 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."

The Blues have worked with The Trust for over a decade. The new funding will allow clubs to deliver more support through a variety of Trust programmes. Currently, the club motivates participants to complete the programme and gain, in some cases, their very first qualification and skills needed for work. The involvement includes stadium tours, motivational talks, healthy eating workshops, signed merchandise and player appearances.

HRH The Prince of Wales launched The Prince's Trust Football Initiative at Old Trafford in August 1997. In ten years, more than 11,000 young people have benefited from the support of over 60 football clubs through a long-term partnership with the Premier League, PFA and Football Foundation