On Friday, 3rd October around 500 experts from London tech and business industries are expected to bed down for the night in Potters Fields Park. They will be joined by staff from hundreds of similar companies who will sleep rough in eight locations across the UK. No, they’re not short of a bit of fresh air – it’s Byte Night, the tech and business community’s annual sleep out in aid of youth homelessness. London Byte Night is back for its 16th year of asking businesses to spend the night sleeping rough to raise funds for Action for Children.
Companies whose staff will be joining in include RBS, Norton Rose Fulbright, LinkedIn, Accenture, Dell, KPMG and HP. Alastair Brown, head of eChannels, GTS at RBS, said: “We are looking forward to this year’s Byte Night London being the biggest and best yet. We were thrilled that we hit the £1million mark last year but we know we can do more.”
Action for Children, the charity which benefits from the event, works directly with more than 300,000 children, young people, parents and carers each year. With 650 services throughout the UK, the charity can be found in communities wherever there are children and families who need help. It has been transforming the lives of thousands of children and young people each year for 145 years. In 2013 Byte Night raised more than £1 million for the first time, which supported more than 25 Action for Children projects in all four nations of the UK.
Laurena Di Bello, fundraising manager at Action for Children, said: “Byte Night is an incredibly significant fundraiser for Action for Children; this year we aim to raise £1.3 million to support our work with homeless young people. However it is also an important networking event. Spending the night exposed to the elements for a shared cause is a great way to forge strong relationships, and with some of London’s leading companies taking part, those relationships could prove very valuable. I would encourage London businesses to sign up to sleep out now!”
•For more information on Action for Children go to actionforchildren.org.uk.
•For more information on Byte Night go to bytenight.org.uk.