2018: An amazing year in the life of the Aston Villa Foundation

The past 12 months have seen the Aston Villa Foundation make major strides towards becoming one of the biggest sporting charities in the West Midlands.

With a team of over 60 staff is now in place, the charity works across numerous projects to deliver over 250 sessions to over 6,500 individuals each week.

As well as the Foundation’s Education, Disability, Health and Wellbeing, Inclusion and Physical Activity provision, they have staged a number of events to help provide local people with life-changing experiences.

The inaugural Big Villa Sleep Out saw fans and fundraisers spend a night in the Trinity Road Stand to raise money in support of the city’s homeless community.

Their efforts resulted in a total of £12,000 being raised, helping to improve lives via Change Into Action and the distribution of essential items to rough sleepers.

The event followed on from the donation of 700 packed lunches to homeless charities after Aston Villa v QPR was postponed in March.

In the same month, Aston Villa football star Andre Green joined a group of young people in helping to redecorate local community centre Saathi House.

In addition to community projects, the Foundation have organised special days and experiences for deserving fans.

Over the course of 2018, these included welcoming fans with severe health problems into a hospitality box, arranging for Josh Nicholson, who is battling cancer, to be a mascot and taking a group of 15 children to Bodymoor Heath for a Christmas lunch with the Villa players.

The Foundation also welcomed hundreds of local children from schools and clubs around the city to be flag-bearers at Aston Villa matches throughout the year.

A spokesperson for the organisations said: “Everyone at the Foundation would like to thank Aston Villa fans for their support throughout the year, and we hope to impact even more lives with your help in 2019!”