Brollies at the ready; it was a rainy night sleeping out in London for Byte Night 2009
It was arguably always on the cards. As we looked to re-evaluate our approach to CSR in the UK, there really was only one charitable initiative we could support, our namesake – Byte Night.
Well, maybe there was a little more to it than that!
I officially LOVE Byte Night. Ever since the delectable Sally Hanson, then marketing director at Cognos, involved me six years ago (not that I had a choice, I might add), I have never looked back. Having helped with the PR in previous roles, and of course having slept out in the freezing English winter weather, I am now chuffed to be heading the PR effort again with the full support of the Byte Night board and the Bite team.
Byte Night, the annual sleep out, is Action for Children’s single largest fundraising event. Given Action for Children is the largest children’s charity in the UK, that makes this a pretty impressive event. Since its inception 12 years ago, the event has raised over £2.5 million; £600,000 in the past year alone against the backdrop of a global recession. The money raised every year directly helps the UK’s most vulnerable and neglected children. Having met many young people who have benefited from Action for Children’s work, I’m in no doubt about the good work Byte Night does and its significance in helping improve the lives of 1.5 million children who suffer some form of neglect in the UK.
So it’s with great pride that we take over the PR baton from LEWIS, whose team did a great job for five years on a pro bono basis.
This year, we’re going to bring a mix of specialist skills to bear on the PR campaign and step things up a gear, so watch this space (in the meantime you can check out last year’s event here .)
The 2010 event promises to be the best year yet for Byte Night, with more locations around the country and greater capacity in London to cater for the ever-growing demand from major brands to be involved. Our volunteers from across the business are chomping at the bit to get going and do our (almost) namesake proud.
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