While most were settling down in their homes for the evening on Friday, October 7, over 70 Aston Villa supporters were setting up their sleeping bags for a night in the Trinity Road Stand concourse to take part in the Big Villa Sleep Out!
The Sleep Out raises vital funds for Villa Kitchen, an initiative set up by the club to help provide hot food to those in need in Birmingham and the surrounding areas, supporting a range of organisations such as homeless outreach groups, migrant centres, women's refugees, housing associations and schools.
Since 2020, the project has provided around 30,000 meals.
This year, funds raised from the Sleep Out have hit £16,000, and are still climbing!
The evening was filled with exciting activities and visits from some familiar faces, with women’s players Simone Magill and Maz Pacheco stopping by to meet with participants as they set up their camps for the night. Aston Villa Foundation ambassadors Katharine Merry and Ian Taylor were also in attendance to support the event.
The highlight of the evening was a visit from men’s first-team captain John McGinn and Under-21s defender Josh Feeney, with participants having the opportunity to ask questions about all things Villa, their favourite football moments and much more.
Participants also had the opportunity to walk away with exclusive merchandise via raffles and auctions, as well as take part in a night-time tour around Villa Park.
“The Big Villa Sleep Out 2022 was a huge success with over £16,000 raised for our Villa Kitchen project. Our supporters put their heart and soul into raising funds for this great cause and we are pleased we were able to organise such a brilliant event for them to enjoy. The supporters loved meeting John McGinn, Josh Feeney, Maz Pacheco and Simone Magill – a special addition to the event. We had such a positive response and have people already asking when the next Sleep Out is!”
Paisley Jeavons
Fundraising Lead for the Aston Villa Foundation
We would like to thank all those who took part in the event and gave up their time to make the evening a great success.
We would also like to thank Beaucrest for their donation of cardboard and Foundation Ambassador Luke Roper for gifting hats and socks to participants.
