Byte Night Aims To Break Charity Records In Fifteenth Year

Byte Night, the IT industry charity which last year raised £650,000 for homeless children, aims to do even better this year – and has already got a record number of volunteers signed up to spend a night sleeping (fairly) rough.

Over 970 people have volunteered to sleep out of doors and raise sponsorship money at national Byte Night events on 5 October. Organisers hope to have 1,000 sleepers, and raise a record sum for youth homelessness charity Action For Children.  TechWeekEurope will be there in the shape of editor Peter Judge – and if you can’t join us, sponsor us.

15 Byte Night years

The event started 15 years ago, and has raised millions of pounds for charity, and if all goes well, this year’s Byte Night could take the event’s total above £5 million. This year, events will take place in Belfast, Cambridge, London, Edinburgh and the Thames Valley. Since registrations opened in May, there has been a 40 percent increase on registrations compared with the same time last year, say organisers.

“We are delighted that there has been such a significant increase in the number of registered sleepers,” said Ken Deeks, Byte Night founder and director of the Amber Group. “This is down to the incredible level of support that we receive from the technology industry across the UK. This regional support has enabled us to grow year-on-year and, with the addition of Byte Night Belfast in 2012, this year is no different.”

All funds raised by Byte Night go to Action for Children, a charity that works with some of the most vulnerable and neglected children and young people in the UK, providing vital training, education and emergency accommodation for  young people at risk of homelessness.

Sign up here or sponsor Peter Judge

Update: Well, that’s not a great start. It looks like the fundraising page isn’t working. If you’ve tried to donates, sorry! Do come back later!

How much help is technology? Try our Disability and Technology quiz!