Words by Adam Smith / Pics by Kevin Smith (Stav)
Big-hearted regulars at Erdington’s Red Lion have helped replace the pub’s longest-serving patron’s mobility scooter – after it was stolen from outside his home.
Alan May, who has been drinking John Smiths bitter at the pub for more than sixty years, was distraught when his mobility scooter was taken by heartless thieves.
Within 24 hours of the Red Lion landlord, Kevin Smith, finding out about the theft Alan was presented with a new scooter in the pub in front of cheering regulars.
Kevin, also known as Stav, told Erdington Local: “Every day Alan comes in and we make sure he has a cob and his pint of John Smith, he has been drinking in here for sixty years and is in his seventies, he is part of the place. He’s got dementia so we look after him the best we can.
“So when he said his scooter had been stolen from outside his house we wanted to do something. We put a sign with ‘some dirty lowlife has stolen Alan’s scooter, let’s buy him a new one’ on the bar and within an hour we had more than £100.
“It was no surprise how generous the regulars were because everyone knows Alan and everyone was upset to hear his scooter had been stolen.”
Kevin, who recently spent five years in a wheelchair, is vice chairman of Birmingham City Football Club’s disabled supporters club AccessiBlues – and got in touch with its founder Steve Portman about getting a new mobility scooter for Alan.
Kevin said: “I phoned Steve and that night he came down with a new scooter. When I offered him the money we had raised, he said we should use it to spend on security at Alan’s house so the new one does not get stolen.
“This is a Villa pub but I’m obviously a big Blues fan, so I was really proud AccessiBlues could come through for Alan – it was a great night when we surprised him with his new scooter.
“I’ve been involved in AccessiBlues for a couple of years now and am really proud of all the good work we do. And not just for Blues fans, we have been working with Brentford Football Club to ensure best practice for disabled supporters.”
AccessiBlues, which is sponsored by Stechford Mobility, were runners up in the 2018 Footballers Supporters Federation Awards #FansForDiversity award and have recently secured charity status.
Alan was overwhelmed with the gesture, he said: “I’m overwhelmed, I can’t believe I got a new scooter so quick, the Red Lion is the best pub around.”
Kevin has been in charge of the Red Lion, which has been serving Erdington locals since 1899, since the summer and is looking forward to the end of lockdown to get back to normal.
He said: “We have been here three months and the week before the latest lockdown was our best yet, the regulars have been brilliant.
“The Red Lion is everything a pub should be, it is part of the community and we are hoping to be serving locals drinks for many a year to come yet.”
To find out more about the Red Lion in Erdington, visit www.redlionerdington.co.uk
For more on AccessiBlues, visit www.stechfordmobility.co.uk/news/accessiblues