On Friday 6th October, the Atlas Cloud team gave up their beds for one night to sleep outside the Newcastle Falcons rugby grounds.
This year’s Byte Night marked the 20th annual event and the North East’s second event.
The Atlas Cloud team were some of 175 sleepers in the North East.
The night started with an introduction and overview of the work Action for Children have been doing for 148 years, with Byte Night majorly contributing to these efforts for 20 years.
Followed by this was the annual quiz, led by our CEO Pete Watson and Greggs’ programme manager, James Holmes.
Ttan @greggs @jamesholmes747 quiz master pic.twitter.com/7iZdTt8aLe
— Pete Watson (@PeteWatson_CEO) October 6, 2017
@PeteWatson_CEO leading the quiz #ByteNight #ByteNightNE pic.twitter.com/RtcpqUOEFP
— Atlas Cloud (@AtlasCloud) October 6, 2017
Once the fun and games were over, it was then time to hear just how much the work Action for Children have been doing is making an impact.
How brave is Chantelle a real success story from the work by Beth and @actnforchildren #nodryeyes #unbreakablebond 👏🏻👏🏻@ByteNight pic.twitter.com/VO7I79hbbE
— Lee Dobbing (@leemdob) October 6, 2017
The whole room was touched by Chantelle’s and Beth’s story and their incredible “soul mate” bond. So much so, they received a standing ovation.
Once we all composed ourselves, it was then time for the charity auction. The prizes included an Amazon Echo Dot, football match tickets, a signed rugby shirt and experience day packages.
The prizes went down well with bidding wars keeping everybody on their toes. Once the prizes were all claimed, it was then time to prepare to sleep outside.
We all picked our spot for our temporary bed for the night.
This is when it hit home that 83,000 young people are facing circumstances like this every day. For them, there is no reassurance that they will have a warm bed and safe home to return to after the night is over.
Currently, participants have raised an amazing £627,000. But we still need your help to smash the £1 million goal. You can donate directly to the Atlas Cloud fundraising page here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/atlascloud
*DRUMROLL* Our first total of the night…
So far across the UK we’ve raised an amazing £627,000!! Help us reach £1m https://t.co/QhSNj5VyKc pic.twitter.com/6qaBBUgDxz— Byte Night (@ByteNight) October 6, 2017
It was great to see like-minded professionals come together for one night to support the 83,000 young people who currently do not have a home. After experiencing the effect of the work Action for Children do first-hand, it emphasised the need to keep pushing further to smash our fundraising targets to get more young people off the streets.
With help from our friends at Sage, Atlas Cloud managed to raise £5,777.46 last year. Again with the help from our friends from Sage, we have raised £5,814 but are determined to raise even more.
About Action for Children
For more than 145 years, Action for Children has never been afraid to push for the best for children. We work in local communities across the UK to make children’s lives better: now, tomorrow and every day. We take action at the earliest opportunity to help children as they grow up. We care about each child and every family. We support and protect the most vulnerable. We never give up. In the past year, we helped more than 390,000 children, young people and their families.
For more information, visit actionforchildren.org.uk or follow them on Twitter @actnforchildren.
In other positive news, Atlas Cloud is a business of the year nominee. We’re keeping our fingers crossed to win it. Check out the various events we’ve got planned or have hosted in recent times.
