News > News Archive 2011 > SleepOut for one night so young people don't have to
SleepOut for one night so young people don't have to
On the first Friday in December every year St Basils hosts one of the UK’s largest and oldest SleepOut events. This charity fundraiser sees hundreds of people volunteering to sleep through the night in a cardboard box, in a car park, in winter. Last year, the evening raised more than £35,000 in sponsorship to help St Basils continue its vital work preventing youth homelessness and helping those at risk in Birmingham and North Worcestershire.
Over 460 people have signed up to this year’s main event to be held on Friday 2nd December in Digbeth, Birmingham.There will also be 5 ‘Satellite’ SleepOuts taking place on the same night across Birmingham. 3 of these are at local educational institutions; Students at Birmingham University, South Birmingham College and Birmingham Metropolitan College have all organised their own versions.
The event has always enjoyed tremendous support from Birmingham's Corporate community. This year 90 representatives from local firms are taking part including Nick Venning from PwC, David Richardson from Lloyds TSB, Nick Taplin from Sanguine Hospitality Ltd, Quentin Poole from Wragge & Co, Alex Bishop from Shoosmiths, Jas Sansi from Jas Sansi Photography, Andeep Mangelfrom Thaper & Co, Peter Rees-Steers Chair of Birmingham Forward Business Forum, as well as representaives from Genting Casinos, Deloitte, Gately UK, Cobbetts, Rewired PR, Clarke Willmott and Hotel Indigo at The Cube.
Two of the main sponsors of the Big SleepOut are Jaffabox and Harvey Nichols. Jaffabox has supported this event since 2005 and have donated in total more than 30 tonnes of cardboard in that time, enabling participants to build their own creative dwellings for the night.
Harvey Nichols has been a keen supporter of the Big SleepOut since 2007 and has provided thousands of bacon sandwiches and hot drinks over the last four years.
This year Kevin Breese, General Manager of Harvey Nichols will be taking part in the SleepOut itself and on 4th November visited the Jaffabox factory to select his box for the evening.
Kevin Breese said: “The Big SleepOut has become a very important date on the city’s fundraising calendar, and I have been delighted to see how many businesses are now backing such a worthy event.”
“It would be fantastic to see even more teams join in this year. Yes, it’s cold and uncomfortable, but it really is a fun way to help raise awareness of homelessness in our city – and if I can do it, anyone can!”
Mark Amyes of Jaffabox added: “The work of St Basils is vital to this region and Jaffabox is only too happy to help with this challenging event. This is for a local charity doing great work which actually benefits all of us."
Registration has now closed for this event but you can still help prevent youth homelessness in Birmingham by texting a donation. Please text ZZZZ11 £5 to 70070.
