THE UNIVERSITY Hospitals Birmingham Charity has been boosted to the tune of £28,000-plus and counting thanks to Birmingham City FC’s big bank holiday fund-raisers, writes Liam Moakes.
The Blues’ spectacular Saturday evening of live dance music at the club’s St Andrew’s home has yielded a superb £7,600 in donations which will help our heroes working on the front-line at Heartlands, Solihull and Good Hope hospitals, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, Solihull Community Services and Birmingham Chest Clinic.
Furthermore, the club’s three-day Keep Right On Challenge brought the overall figure to above the £28,000 mark.
More than 80 players and staff from the club completed a Land’s End to John o’Groats virtual journey with a collective running effort around the region covering the 1,083 miles.
Among those competing were Blues’ 16-year-old midfield sensation Jude Bellingham who ran 7.7km in 28 minutes around the pitch on Saturday evening as Redditch DJ Richie G launched the ‘Blues Big Night In’ dance event.
As 120,000 people watched the music event on the club’s Facebook page, donations continued to flood in for both fund-raisers, particularly when Small Heath rapper and actor sensation Jaykae brought Saturday’s pitch-side event to a close.
The Keep Right On Challenge was the idea of the club’s academy to give something back to local hospitals during the pandemic.
Every department from the club was involved and the captains of the men’s and women’s teams – Harlee Dean and Kerys Harrop – were the first to come forward to enlist.
Gardner brothers Craig and Gary, Bellingham, Wes Harding, Charlie Lakin, Olly McCoy, Jake Weaver, Dan Crowley, Steve Seddon and Caolan Boyd-Munce also took part, as well as women’s stars Sarah Mayling, Harriet Scott, Claudia Walker, Abbi Grant and Connie Scofield.
Charlotte Schofield, director of fund-raising at University Hospitals Birmingham Charity, said: “A huge thank you goes to everyone at Birmingham City Football Club and all of the Blues family for raising this incredible total.
“The hard work you have all put into your fund-raising and the generosity of everyone who donated will help us to make a huge difference to our patients and staff across the West Midlands.
“Our staff are working incredibly hard and we’re committed to helping them by funding staff welfare hubs where they can come and relax away from the ward. We’re filling our hubs with food and drink, as well as entertainment systems and comfortable furniture to allow them to take a well-deserved break.
“We’ll also use the money that Birmingham City FC raised to support our patients by funding tablets, radios and activity packs to ensure they can stay in contact with their families at a time when they cannot receive visitors and keep them entertained on the wards.”
Whilst continuing to maintain social distancing, Richie G’s fellow DJs Andy Bell and Joe Hunt also showed their mixing skills on a super Saturday as dusk descended upon the stadium, which was lit up by a spectacular light show to provide viewers light-hearted entertainment from within the safety of their own homes alongside dance and house anthems.
Thanks go to sponsors Exhibition Vision Event Services, IanLivie.com – Concert & Corporate Lighting, Quadrant Events and SH 2020 for donating their time and services to help bring the Big Night In to reality.
The companies, which usually support the entertainment industry globally by providing specialist equipment for stadiums, exhibitions, concerts and festivals, provided the technology to make this happen.
Visit justgiving.com/team/bcfcstaff to donate to the Keep Right On Challenge.
View a video of the night on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/liam.moakes/videos/10222994607072863/2168a703-cf3d-4d01-8a2c-fd394f9f5ed8
