Channel firms prepare for another Byte Night

Annual corporate charity event raised £1.1m last year

The channel is set to take to the streets next week as part of the UK's largest corporate sleep-out event.

The annual Byte Night event, which takes place on 4 October, is run in aid of Action for Children, a charity that aims to help the 126,000 homeless youth in the UK, and sees a host of channel companies and their end users take part.

Howard Hall, founder and managing director of DTP Group, slept on the streets last year for the event's first Yorkshire sleep-out and is returning this year with a team from his company.

"I was a solo sleeper last year, but as we had a number of clients with teams that had entered, I tagged on to a couple of them for the evening," he explained to CRN.

"It was a really rewarding event as we raised a lot of money for the charity. It also made me realise as I drove home the following morning how lucky we are to be able to know we have a bed to sleep in the following night, unlike tens of thousands of young people in the UK.

"I was so impressed by the event last year I applied to - and was accepted onto - the Yorkshire Byte Night Board.

"I have been busy for the last year recruiting sleepers and sponsors, and we have a team of five DTP sleepers entered into the event this year."

Byte Night began 21 years ago with 30 participants sleeping out in London and raising £35,000. Since then, it has expanded to 12 locations, including Yorkshire, Bristol and Edinburgh, and has raised over £10m.

Last year the event raised £1.1m in total.

Action for Children provides homeless youth with support, accommodation, education and training.