YOUNG footballers will be taking a leaf out of Barcelona’s book by sporting a charity’s logo on their shirts next season.

The Spanish giants have Unicef, the United Nations’ children’s charity, on their tops, and Cinderford Town Youth FC teams will be following in their footsteps by sporting the Pied Piper Appeal logo, highlighting the Gloucestershire charity which helps sick and disabled children.

Following an anonymous donation, the club’s committee made the decision to use it to promote a local charity on their youth team shirts in 2017/18.

The Pied Piper Appeal’s mission is to make a difference to the lives of sick and disabled children in Gloucestershire, by funding medical and practical equipment that enhances care and treatment in hospitals and special schools.

They also send children with life-limiting illnesses on “Wish Holidays”, as well as funding more than £10,000 worth of nursing training for paediatric nurses, and recently gave another £10,000 to Coleford’s Heart of the Forest School towards a new multi-sensory room.

The logo will appear on all Cinderford Town Youth FC shirts from U8s to U16s.

Club chairman Brian Burke said: “We’re delighted to be in a position where we can support a local charity.

“As a youth football club, to raise awareness of a charity that supports sick and disabled children around Gloucestershire makes us very proud.

“After receiving a generous donation we felt that it was a great opportunity to not only give all our youth teams brand new kits, but to also promote a worthwhile cause.

“After contacting Pied Piper we were delighted with their enthusiasm to be linked with Cinderford Town.”

Julie Kent, vice chairman of the Pied Piper Appeal, attended the launch of the new kits and said:

“We are thrilled to have been chosen as the Cinderford Town Youth charity this year, as all the children in the county benefit from the money raised by Pied Piper for sick and disabled children.”