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I’m proud to say that I was one of the fans who took part in this challenge.
And while I failed the sleep part of the sleep out by remaining awake for the whole of the night, I can confirm that it was pretty cold overnight in the Gil Merrick concourse.
However, for me I believe my role in this challenge has to be more than the time I spent at St Andrew’s on Saturday night.
I feel the moral obligation to share not only my reasons for taking part in the sleepout, but the reasons why challenges such as these are important to the club as a whole.
Why take part in these kinds of challenges?
Regular readers will note the dearth of posts on this blog in the last couple of months. Indeed, I’ve had a couple of people ask me if I’ve totally retired from writing and while I’m happy to say that I haven’t, I feel I owe people an explanation.
As I wrote on Medium.com a short while ago, I do not enjoy the Christmas period at all.
My struggles with that and some other things in my personal life have made it very difficult to have the energy to write for this blog and as such I’ve gone without posting for some time.
My reason for writing has always boiled down to the simple concept that I both could and wanted to write stuff about Blues.
In the past, when things for the club were bad, I knew that if I wanted to be able to look myself in the mirror of a morning, I had to prove to myself that I had done what I could to make the situation better.
This sleepout fitted into the same bracket for me at least.
I’d like to offer some beautiful altruistic reasoning for taking part that makes me look good but if I’m brutally honest I took part because I knew I had to if I wanted to think of myself as a good person.
And while I knew that it would be an uncomfortable evening due to the temperature as well as my ongoing struggles with insomnia, I figured those struggles pale into insignificance in comparison to the stuff some people have to deal with on a daily basis.
I’m also in the especially fortunate situation of living within walking distance of St Andrew’s.
This allowed me to go home immediately in the aftermath of the 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers, get something to eat and change my clothing ready to return for the sleep out itself.
I have nothing but admiration for those who came from further afield to commit their whole day and night to this challenge.
One of the benefits of these kinds of challenges is it helps to bridge the gap between fans and staff.
I’ll probably embarrass him by mentioning this, but I want to talk about Craig Gardner in particular here.
I can’t say that I know Gardner that well, but what I do know of him is that I think he’s like me. As much as he does try to get involved with charity events, he does so quietly because he’s uncomfortable with drawing attention to himself and away from the charity.
And while I’ve been critical of him myself in the past, I also understand from what I’ve seen that Gardner understands how much he can achieve by simply being present at these kinds of things.
It’s one thing to stand up on stage and talk about the Carling Cup win of 2011; it’s another to sit in the stand surrounded by fans just talking about ordinary things and making those fans feel like they’re part of something.
For me, the beauty of the night was seeing people come together.
Whether it was Blues4All rocking up with some delicious curry to keep us warm, or Gardner making a midnight run to Maccies to get chicken nuggets to keep people going, there was a genuine feeling of people supporting those who had committed their time.
And while I’ve seen the FOMO and jealousy online from some quarters because Tom Wagner told Jeremy Dale to stick his credit card behind the bar, I’d like to offer the opinion that this event was open to all fans to take part and at no point until the offer was made was anyone expecting it.
As someone who had already paid for two drinks the concept of a free bar caught me completely off guard.
I’m hopeful now that fans have seen how positive this kind of thing can be, we’ll see a bigger uptake from fans for the next one with even more money raised.
Why challenges like the sleepout are important for the club to take part in
During the run up to the event, I was one of many Blues fans spamming a donation link across social media to encourage people to donate.
All the way through this I talked about things such as how this money would allow the Birmingham City Foundation to help children in underprivileged situations to receive a Christmas present that they might not have done.
And while that sentence easily falls into the meaning of Christmas, I think it’s important to understand the deeper complexities of how an action like this can benefit the city.
I received an email from a friend I have working for the Foundation who told me of an event held at a community centre where these presents were being handed out.
They told me of a single mother who was present who looked utterly broken.
This lady’s living situation was as such that she and her children were all squashed in together in a flat with a single bedroom.
This lack of living space for her children was impacting negatively on their behaviour, and as such her eldest child had ended up being excluded from his primary school.
The mother had as a consequence become a social recluse due to other parents challenging her over the behaviour of her child, causing her to descend into a spiral of anxiety and stress.
It’s not hard to imagine how that would affect things at a time of year when pressure is high to spend money, and how that in turn would further fuel this negative spiral of feelings.
Now, I know that there are some out there who will be sniffy about this kind of situation; maybe they’ll blame her for having children she can’t afford or such like.
I personally cannot do that.
As a parent myself I know how wildly situations can change as a child grows and that it’s not hard for someone to find themselves in the economic and social situation such as the mother described above through no fault of their own.
And as easy as it is to blame the child and / or their parents for negative behaviour, I’m of the opinion that positive action is the only solution for these kinds of situations.
At the event, the mother was invited to choose a present for each of her children from those available and to say to her kids it was from her.
It might not seem much, but for someone who doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from the ability to be able to ensure their kids aren’t left out at Christmas is huge.
Taking a small amount of pressure off a person in that situation can have a positive knock-on effect. It can help to create the space for a person to make other positive changes to improve their life
Daft as it sounds, a small present can be part of a virtuous circle for the child too. Imagine giving a child in this situation something as simple as a basketball, and the opportunity to take part in sport outdoors.
It’s possible that can spur a new direction for a child’s life and maybe help to move their path to something slightly more positive.
If as fans we can raise money to make these small but potentially positive changes to many children’s lives, imagine the combined effect all of this could have on our communities and our city?
Why challenges like the sleepout are important for the club to take part in (the cynical version)
As someone who does not believe in altruism, I think it’s important for me to offer another reason which is more cynical as to why it’s important for fans to get involved and promote this kind of initiative.
Birmingham City is at the moment in the beginning stages of what could be a huge transformation.
The idea of a new stadium as part of a wider Sports Quarter should be one that excites fans massively. It’s a huge investment in the city itself which will be not only good for Blues but I would also expect create new employment and social opportunities for the city.
It’s going to take a huge amount of money – near £3Bn – for it to come to fruition.
However, like any project of this size money alone isn’t going to ensure its completion. It’s going to require the co-ordination of the club with various stakeholders such as the city council and the combined West Midlands authority for it to be a success.
That is going to require some political capital, and for that to happen the club needs to offer councillors, MPs and other politicians a political reason for being involved.
As much as we’d like those kinds of people to get involved because it’s Blues, that’s not how these things work.
Therefore, it’s important to show not only how the club gives back to the community, but how the club can help elevate the community.
By taking part in these kinds of events, both fans and staff are actively showing how they are coming together to be a force for good.
They’re proving that the club means more to them than just 11 blokes kicking a ball around – and that is something that is much easier for a politician to get behind.
In fact, it can get to a point where it becomes politically expedient to be a part of the process simply because to not do so would cost votes.
And I’ll admit, it’s for this reason I’m writing this article. By sharing these thoughts out to the largest number of fans I can, I’m hoping I can convince other fans to be a part of future events.
Even just evangelising the work the club and the foundation are doing in the community might be enough. The more positive press we’re helping to generate for the club, the better.
When I got home at 7am on Sunday morning, I was tired from a complete lack of sleep and being emotionally overwhelmed from being around so many people for so long.
While the cold didn’t really discomfort me, many other things did and I was reminded of how fortunate my life really is.
Having the opportunity to be involved in something bigger than me was something I’m glad I was able to take and has made me proud to be a Blues fan and a Brummie.
Hopefully, there will be more opportunities for more fans to be able to be a part of positive change for the city.