Villa are giving their support to a strip amnesty, aimed at helping underprivileged children and adults in South Africa.

Companies across the Midlands are being asked to help collect unwanted replica football shirts to send to poor and underprivileged children and adults ahead of this year's World Cup.

Fans from several Premier League and Championship clubs are being asked to donate replica shirts which have become redundant as children outgrow current sizes and as clubs issue new kits.

Collectors will be around the Villa Park ground before both the Manchester United and Burnley games so please give generously.

Pictured are Mark Trigg and his team receiving the first batch from staff at Birmingham's Metropolitan College.

The Strip Amnesty is a collaborative initiative involving movers and shakers from Birmingham's professional services sector, under the guidance of Thrive Birmingham, which aims to encourage corporate social responsibility.

Duncan Riddle, Villa's head of community, said: "This worthwhile campaign has gathered pace over the last couple of months.

"Collections have already taken place at our local rivals West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

"It would be great for us to follow suit and hopefully make an excellent contribution."

With the assistance of local businesses, the shirts will be cleaned, packaged and shipped to South Africa. Organisers are hoping for at least 20,000 shirts to be donated in total.

Several drop-off points will also be available throughout the city where people can take their unwanted shirts.

A full list of these is available on www.stripamnesty.org.