Aston Villa legend proud to support Birmingham’s homeless community

The League Cup winner, alongside wife Carol, joined a host of other fundraisers in spending the night in the Trinity Stand concourse for The BIG Villa Sleep Out on Friday night May 18.

Organised by the Aston Villa Foundation, the event follows on from the donation of 700 packed lunches to homeless charities across the city following the postponement of the QPR game in March.

Teale said:

“It only bears well on the club; whatever they do to help. The start was the food donation at the game against QPR and whoever’s idea it was, it was just a great idea.

“It got so much publicity at the time, that they’ve gone out and given all this food away so we’ve got the applause for that but you’ve got to keep it going. It’s no good doing one thing.”

Head of Foundation Guy Rippon kicked the evening off with a short speech about the Foundation’s hopes for future events of a similar nature before Teale accompanied the rest of the fundraisers on a tour of the stadium.

The group also took part in a quiz and were provided with food, drink, and breakfast donated by stadium catering company Compass Levy, and a cardboard mat to sleep on donated by local box manufacturer Metro-Box.

Teale and his wife raised £385 for the cause, and the former Villa defender feels the club and its fan base can continue to fight homelessness:

“It’s like Guy said earlier tonight, everyone can do one thing but if you just do one thing you’re not really helping anybody.

“They’ll get a little handout of a few little bits and bobs and once it’s done, it’s done and everyone forgets it. There’s plenty of things we can do.”

Rippon, who also took part in the Sleep Out, was pleased with the response from the fanbase and feels there is more that can be done in the future with continued support. He said:

“Homelessness is an ever-growing issue in Birmingham and in the UK, so it was great to see a group of people who weren’t afraid to take themselves out of their comfort zone for a night in order to make a difference.

“The result and impact of their fundraising will become clear in the near future when we purchase the essential items that we plan to help charities distribute across the city.”

The BIG Villa Sleep Out is an event organised at Villa Park by the Aston Villa Foundation with the aim of raising money in support of Birmingham’s homeless community. All funds raised will be used to buy essential items such as food, drinks, and toiletries, which will then be packaged and distributed by some of the city’s homeless charities.

The video below documented the event, including interviews with Sean Teale and Guy Rippon: