As a member of the Byte Night board, our CEO Pete Watson recently attended the 20th Anniversary Byte Night Launch Party. The launch party was set to inspire those involved with Byte Night of how their dedication is changing the lives of vulnerable young people every year. Last year alone, £1 million raised by the Byte Night event went to Action for Children.
The sleep-out sees staff, including CEOs from the technology and other business sectors, together with celebrities, take part to replicate the conditions thousands of young people have to face on a daily basis.
Byte Night started with 30 participants, who raised £30,000. Today, there are over 1,300 participants from a range of businesses and industries who are now fundraising over £1 million a year.
Ken Deeks, the founder of Byte Night, had the idea for the event in 1998 when he saw an advert appeal for Action for Children on youth homelessness.
For his contribution to the charity and the lives he has helped to change, Ken Deeks was awarded an MBE in 2015. Speaking about the event, he said:“When we founded this event my concern about homelessness among young people was brought sharply into focus when I looked at my own family; the opportunities my children had as they were growing up and the stability they knew – this was in stark contrast to the experiences of many others their age from different circumstances.
“I wanted to do something to help, and this idea took shape. There are quite a few corporate sleep outs these days but we are tremendously proud that Byte Night helped to start the trend all those years ago.”
Sir Tony Hawkhead, Chief Executive of Action for Children, added: “It was a fantastic achievement to hit the £1 million mark again last year…
“This year’s event is special, marking 20 years of Byte Night. It also celebrates the dedication and commitment of the founder, Ken Deeks, as well as all of the generous and dedicated people we have worked with over the years, it’s been a huge achievement.”
This year’s sleep out is taking place on Friday 6th October across 10 locations.
Register today to sleep out at Byte Night 2017 and you could be sleeping alongside companies such as Civica, RBS, IBM and KPMG. Your support will also allow Action for Children to continue to help thousands of young people to build better lives by providing essential support, accommodation, education and training.
In addition to the sleep out Atlas Cloud, in partnership with KPMG and Harvey Nash, have launched a corporate cycle that is set to take place on June 15th. With 50 spaces available, riders will make their way through Northumberland in the hope of raising £250 each. Register for the event and read more here.
As part of last year’s fundraising, a few members of the Atlas Cloud team slept on the streets of Gateshead to show support to over 100,000 young people who have to face sleeping on the streets every day. You can read all about the sleep out here.
With help from our friends at Sage, Atlas Cloud managed to raise £5,777.46 last year.
In an attempt to smash last year’s fundraising efforts, Pete is set to take part in 5 challenge events with all donations going directly to Action for Children, you can find out more and sponsor him here.
Visit this page to read more events we’ve been involved with.
