Reporter is sleeping on the job - for charity!
Published 4 Oct 2011 12:30
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Katie Astbury and Paula Elliot from C8 Consulting will be sleeping rough with 130 others including Chronicle reporter Richard Cutcher.
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MORE than 130 volunteers will be braving the elements to sleep rough on the streets of Reading to raise money for homeless youngsters.
The sleep-out on Friday mainly involves staff from the Thames Valley IT and business industries but they will be joined by Chronicle reporter Richard Cutcher.
Since it was founded in 1998, Byte Night has raised more than £3m for Action For Children, which supports the 75,000 young people who sleep rough in Britain each year. A third of those attempt suicide and one in seven experience physical or sexual assault.
Sally Hanson, chairman of the Thames Valley Byte Night board, is taking part in her eighth sleep-out and said: "In this industry we are very fortunate and quite spoilt. Once you meet the children and hear their stories of how they ended up sleeping rough, and their experiences, it is hard to ignore."
Katie Astbury, 24, is set to endure the long, cold night for the first time and said: "Action For Children is quite a renowned charity and the whole idea really appealed to me. It is very different to other fundraising and sponsored events.
"I am not looking forward to the point in the early hours of the morning when others start dropping off. I think I am going to find it hard to get to sleep."
London, Cambridge and Edinburgh also host Byte Night sleep-outs on Friday and Thames Valley organisers are confident of meeting their £150,000 target when everyone gets bedded down in Reading's Forbury Gardens.
At this stage last year, with one week to go, the Thames Valley had raised £18,500 compared to the £42,600 already committed this year.
Giving tips to any sleep-out novices, Mrs Hanson said: "My first piece of advice is to wear layers. Make sure you have your sleeping bag in something plastic because it will become saturated from the dew and have something to shelter your head.
"It really does give you a true thought as to what it's like. We go back to our cosy homes but these people don't. They have to do it day in and day out."
Sponsor reporter Richard Cutcher at www.virginmoneygiving.com/Cutcher
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 04 Oct 11
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