El Reg and Action for Children want to put our readers onto the streets
If you always sleep like a log, we’ve got just the thing for you - do some good by spending the night roughing it on the streets with a bunch of your industry compatriots in October, and raise a bunch of cash for vulnerable children into the bargain.
Why would we want to force our loyal readers onto the streets? Because The Register is the official media partner for Byte Night, the annual sleepout fundraiser for Action for Children, which has been caring and sticking up for vulnerable young people for 150 years.
Byte Night, which has been running since 1998, is one of the charity’s key fundraisers, and this year there are no less than 10 sleep-outs happening up and down the country on October 6. You could enjoy the flinty floors of Stormont and Glasgow, or the decidedly non-gold-paved streets of London and Bristol, and all points between.
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The aim is to get 1,600 sleepers out there, and raise £1.4m in total. So far the omens are good... but they'll only hit that target if enough of you forsake an evening in front of the telly for a night on the streets. Or at least sponsor a brave colleague who will.
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In case you’ve been sleeping under a rock, it works like this.* You go to the Byte Night website, register, and start raising at least a grand sponsorship, which pays for your place on the sleepout of your choice.
You’re not completely on your own. Far from it in fact. Ground sheets and survival bags are provided, as is a hot main meal and breakfast. If you bring some cash, you can enjoy a night cap at the cash bar which will be popping up at each site.
Then you can settle down for the night alongside your old and new pals. These include the great and the good of the UK tech world from senior bods at Dell, Barclays, BT, Accenture and Microsoft, right through to the team that keeps Greggs supplying IT departments nationwide with nutrition.
What you won’t have to worry about are the dangers and troubles facing the 83,000 homeless youngsters that Action for Children helps every year. And they’re just part of the 390,000 individuals and charities it helps overall, from providing secure accommodation, education and training opportunities to young people, to working with young people leaving the care system to make the transition to independent living.
Sound good? Good. All you need to do is go here and sign up now. You can start raising cash straight away - and sleep better too. ®
*Of course, if you have been sleeping under a rock, spending the night on the pavement should be a doddle.