Soccer aces team up to support the forces

England football stars Joe Hart and Joleon Lescott teamed up with Shropshire armed forces personnel for a photo shoot to celebrate a new fundraising link in time for St George's Day.

Members of all three services from RAF Shawbury were joined by the footballers to raise the profile of the new link between Help for Heroes, the England Footballers Foundation and the Armed Services.

They were joined at the photoshoot by Help for Heroes Band of Brothers members plus the Manchester City duo.

For Joe Hart, who was born and raised in Shrewsbury, the get-together was a chance to chat to people from home.

The players joined Lieutenant Chris Walker, of the Army Air Corps, Chief Petty Officer Trish Chatfield RN and Corporal Gaz Evans of the RAF at the photo shoot designed to raise awareness of the charitable work done by members of the England squad.

The players donate all of their match fees to the charity and have decided to join forces with Help for Heroes in raising funds for the forces based charity.

The players and service personnel were also joined by two ex-servicemen who were both injured in the line of duty. Pete Dunning and Simon Brown were both seriously injured on front line duty resulting in them leaving the services.

Both are now regular fundraisers with strong links to the armed services through Help for Heroes.