Coventry Building Society's arena hold charity arena tournament and sleepout - The Coventry Observer

Coventry Building Society's arena hold charity arena tournament and sleepout

Coventry Editorial 18th May, 2022   0

COVENTRY Building Society (CBS) staff and local volunteers raised over £10,000 for homelessness charity Change into Action by holding a football tournament and sleepout at the CBS Arena.

The 11 a side staff football game was a huge success.

The packed day of fun started with an 11-a-side football tournament, where CBS staff fulfilled their dream of playing on a professional football league pitch.

This was followed by an open five-a-side tournament featuring teams from CBS, Empire, and Sky Blues in the Community among others.

Each player competing donated £10 to take part in the fun with their families and friends looking on from the stands or dugouts.




Later in the evening staff were joined by volunteers to sleep on the hallowed Coventry turf, with each sleeper asked to raise £50.

The volunteers were given a free boxfit session from local fitness centre Warriors World to help to pass the time, and the FA Cup Final and Eurovision were broadcast on the big screen.


Volunteer sleepers found some inventive ways to keep themselves comfortable.

A feed was provided for the sleepers by Langar Aid to give them a real-life experience of what it would be like to sleep rough in Coventry.

There was also a raffle and plenty of donation buckets at the arena throughout the day.

Change into Action is a charity that looks to tackle homelessness in areas including Coventry, Birmingham, Sandwell and Wolverhampton.

CBS Chief Executive Stephen Hughes said: “Change into Action is a great charity that does wonderful things in the city and it is a brilliant cause for us to support.

“A major reason why we sponsored the arena was the role we knew it could play in our community work.

“My colleagues are so passionate about the role that they can play in the community.”

CBS Senior Community Officer Emma Brodie added: “The amount that we’ve raised is amazing. I couldn’t be more grateful for the attendance, the atmosphere and the generosity shown.

“The players have had their dreams come true and there has been a real buzz all day.

“We tried to keep the sleepout as realistic as possible, we didn’t use tents and only slept on cardboard and a few sleeping bags.”

You can contribute towards the Change into Action account by visiting any CBS branch.

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