Vertu Backs Birmingham City's Blue Nose Day Appeal
Vertu has thrown its support behind Birmingham City’s Blue Nose Day initiative in a bid to help children across England’s second city.
Vertu – one of the largest automotive retailer groups in the UK – announced an exciting new strategic partnership with the EFL League One side in early December, with a key aspect of the multi-year agreement being a shared desire to help the local community and assist in the regeneration of the city.
Launched in 2023 by the Club, Blue Nose Day is an initiative that was created to raise funds to provide Christmas gifts to thousands of youngsters who are known to the Birmingham Children’s Trust.
Fans who attended the 2-0 win for the Men’s team against Bristol Rovers, or the 0-0 draw with Charlton Athletic for the Women’s team, were able to purchase a special novelty Blue Nose, with the minimum donation for every two noses sold covering the cost of a gift for a local child.
A Blue Nose Day Sleepout following the Bristol Rovers game then saw fans bed down for the night under the Gil Merrick Stand within the St Andrew’s at Knighthead Park ground to raise additional funds for the initiative.
On the back of a successful weekend of Blue Nose Day activities, Ford Birmingham – the nearest dealership from the Vertu group to the Club – stepped in to provide transport to carry the gifts purchased with funds raised across the weekend.
The gifts were carried from Birmingham City’s training ground at the Elite Performance and Innovation Centre to the headquarters of Birmingham Children’s Trust, where children from local schools were surprised with their pre-Christmas treat and also had the opportunity to meet first team players Alex Cochrane and Brandon Khela.
David Lee, Ford Birmingham General Manager, said: “It’s fantastic that the new partnership between Vertu and Birmingham City has allowed us to get involved with Blue Nose Day.
“The opportunity to assist the Club with such an important community programme, and to deliver gifts to children from across the city, is a brilliant way to start the relationship and we look forward to working with both the Club and the Birmingham City Foundation, in the future.”
Jeremy Dale, Executive Vice Chair for the Birmingham City Foundation, said: “Vertu is a fantastic brand for us to be involved with, and the fact that they have stepped forward to assist in delivering the Blue Nose Day gifts to members of our community shows how aligned we are in our values.
“Whilst this is a partnership that has only been in place for a matter of weeks, we already love working with the Vertu team and look forward to continuing to do so into the future.”