Byte Night Beats £1m Target For Children’s Charity

Industry charity Byte Night has sailed through its target of raising £1 million for children, thanks to volunteers sleeping rough in October, and established itself in the big leagues among the British fundraising events.

Byte Night, which raised nearly £1 million in 2012 aimed to beat this record this year, and the figures are now in, proving the charity has done just that, with more than £1,038,000 in donations. A few straggling sponsors are still giving their money, which goes to Action for Children to fight youth homelessness and poverty.

Action For Children

Byte Night has been raising money for 16 years, totalling £5 million so far. Activity has accelerated in recent years as austerity and the recession have hit youth particularly hard.

On October 4, hundreds of volunteers from all parts of the tech industry slept rough in seven locations – including Belfast, Cambridge, London, Scotland and the Thames Valley – to raise money for the charity through sponsorships, charity auctions and other activities.

Children’s poverty has become more acute as services have been cut, and children will pay the price for the government’s cap on welfare spending, warned Action for Children chief executive Dame Clare Tickell, after Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement said: “Children are facing desperate situations at home as services that support families before they reach crisis point have been squeezed to the limit. These funding cuts have coincided with increasing pressures on households because of unemployment, poverty and family breakdown.”

TechWeekEurope sleeps out with Byte Night each year – normally falling far short of our sponsorship target, but supporting the charity’s excellent aims.

You can donate to Action for Children here.

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