CEO Sleepout Newcastle at St James Park is where it all began. The annual sleepout, held every spring since 2014, has raised a whopping £434,442 to date for people facing homelessness and poverty on Tyneside.
The 2020 event, which was due to be held in March this year was canceled due to lockdown restrictions – meaning charities Newcastle United Foundation and Changing Lives faced losing vital funding that enables them to support children in poverty, people at risk of becoming homeless, sofa surfers and those forced to sleep rough on the streets of Newcastle.
Despite this, the 124 big-hearted business leaders that had enthusiastically signed up to participate in March agreed that the fundraising they had already done should be distributed to the charities to support their work, which has become even more critical with families already under the constant pressure of poverty being pushed into destitution and even homelessness.
Thanks to this generosity, The Newcastle United Foundation, Changing Lives and CEO Sleepout UK have each received a sum of £5702 from funds raised.
Chief Exec of CEO Sleepout, Bianca Robinson said: “Our ‘Generous Geordies’ never fail to impress me with willingness to throw their weight behind this cause. Time and time again, Newcastle proves that it’s one of the most compassionate cities in the UK. It’s that generosity of spirit that you see in the North makes Newcastle great. I’d like to say a huge thanks to every single person who not only signed up to take part, but who donated and sponsored, agreeing to let those funds be distributed to our charities knowing the event couldn’t proceed.”
Changing Lives and the Newcastle United Foundation are two of the biggest beneficiaries from funds raised at CEO Sleepout events, receiving totals of £282,156 and £144,814 respectively.
We are proud to be in a position to support their incredible and important work during the time of the pandemic.
To register your interest for the next CEO Sleepout Newcastle event, please let me know by email and I’ll confirm all the details with you once we have fixed the date.
Bianca
