Help crowdfund Andrew Steele

[sidelined]

Andrew Steele has lost his lottery funding because of his struggles not just with injury but with the chronic fatigue caused by glandular fever, aka the Epstein Barr virus. It's worth reading his moving account of this on the BBC site.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/14667422.stm

Now he's trying to raise sponsorship money through crowdsosurcing - i.e. anybody can chip in however much they like to help him out. A number of posters have said they would fund him if they were rich - now you can fund him even if you're not rich! I think he deserves some support for being so enterprising:

http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/investment ... n-2012-455

[javman]

Whilst I have profound sympathy for Andrew and his illness, his assertion that without a sponsor he must retire is just daft, surely he could get a job to help pay the bills! Or is that just too easy and simplistic.

[trickstat]

Whilst I have profound sympathy for Andrew and his illness, his assertion that without a sponsor he must retire is just daft, surely he could get a job to help pay the bills! Or is that just too easy and simplistic.

His funding target is £16,100. That's rather good pay for what would be 9 months of part-time work for a 27 year old! Earning £2-3000 may be plausible but I doubt whether that wouldn't be enough for him to live on.

[Oleg]

I would tend to take the same stance as javman on this. It is truly unfortunate that illness and conditions have stunted his progression but he was fortunate to make it to the Olympics before the problems started where many with perhaps more potential have been struck by injury or illness before they were able to make that stage. The BBC article felt to me like athletes are desrving of funding but I would say that everyone needs to work and fight for the right rather than asking the general public.

[sidelined]

Javman and Oleg - Andrew Steele's biggest problem is that he hasn't recovered completely from the Epstein Barr. I'm amazed he manages to do the 400m training. If he were working and doing 400m training he'd probably deteriorate. At his best he's roughly half a second faster than Clarke, Levine, Strachan and Lennon-Ford. Epstein Barr and any other kind of chronic fatigue is poorly understood and often attracts little sympathy, but it is fiendish difficult to recover from. I admire him for pursuing his Olympic ambitions in the circumstances.

Anyway, a little generosity is good for the soul.

[Oleg]

I'm generous to people in need, not to people who can't do what they used to..

[javman]

Sidelined, I am immensely generous when the circumstances are right. But, whilst I have real sympathy for Andrews illness, all I see is a woe is me article and a comment that he will retire if he doesn't get any money. There are no real indications of how he will earn money himself, hence then proposition that he should get a job!

There are far more worthy causes to donate money to. I would much prefer to donate money to limbless servicemen who have sacrificed an awful lot more, for roughly the same amount of money that Andrew is begging for!

[insideinfo]

Javman...

I don't think getting a job is going to increase his chances of recovering from illness and making his Olympic dreams come true. Fair play to him. He could easily make a killing in a different profession. He's a smart guy and deserves a break after a torrid couple of years. I think the point he is making is that he may as well retire if he can't afford the time to be able to dedicate to training. Quality rest, sleep, diet, and leaving no stone unturned are the things that are likely to make all the difference between success and failure. He is offering you the chance to sponsor him, not slate him. And he is offering things in return - kit, appearances to schools or businesses, signed photos, etc. Good luck to him.

[sidelined]

Asked on Twitter how the crowdfunding was going, Andrew Steele said:

AndrewSteele
@BarnesIvan ha, not great. I actually didn't intend to publicize it, just wanted to have a portal for small businesses I've met to donate.

I will probably take of[sic] down as its a very inefficient method really, and the whole things sits very uncomfortably with me
27 Oct

So there you go.