Byte Night: THE sleeping rough event of the year

A very special guest will be at the big chips tonight to officially launch this year’s Byte Night in aid of Action for children.  They are calling for the good people of the Digital and IT world to join them for an organized sleep out to raise money and awareness to prevent young people from sleeping rough on our streets.

Code did this last year, it was fascinating and extremely rewarding (and actually quite a lot of fun although I’m not sure we are meant to say that).

Please convince those around you to sign up and be there for THE sleeping rough event of the year, we will be doing it again, and would really like to share the experience with other folks from the industry.

We are really happy to answer any questions about what it was here on the phone if you need convincing, but here is a quick description of the what last year was like, if you want to see more photos you can here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/codecomputerlove/sets/72157622513956310/

Basically we turned up on the night with sleeping bags and lots of warm clothes. They fed and looked after us with quizzes a bar and a few talks from the youngsters that they have and are helping to stay off the streets. At 12 they kicked everyone outside with a survival bag and an umbrella.

Everyone found a spot and set up their little make shift camps (no sleeping mats or tentage allowed I’m afraid). There was a quiet corner for those that just want to get their heads down, the whole area was cordoned off by some friendly security guards who kept their eyes on us. Most of the Code lot stayed up chatting, drinking and generally prating around until the early hours when people starting to slope off to try and get some sleep (some where better at this than others – Mark Sharp) At six Action for children lay on some breakfast and everyone sloped off home back to their nice warm houses.

Obviously the commitment to this event isn’t just about sleeping rough it is also about raising money. We did this on an individual level an as a company, doing stuff like; cooking for everyone, jumble sales, selling donuts, baking you name it. They say on the website that the target is for £500 per person. This is just a target and as a total group 12 of us raised about £5300. I spoke to Action for children about the £500 target which on the face of it sounds a bit scary, they said it was just a target and wouldn’t want it putting people off getting involved. I think you should be committing to at least £200 per person if you are going to sign up though so that they can cover the costs of the event and raise enough money to make it worth while.

So far we have spoken to the guys at CTI and BJL who have said they would be keen, come on and join in, its just one little night in the cold…

If you are interested then more info on how to sign up here.