CEO Sleepout Doncaster, held at the Keepmoat Stadium, helped to raise £18,000 to support the initiative to raise for local charities who will receive around £6,000 each.
This year, CEO Sleepout has partnered with Club Doncaster Foundation and The Real Help Doncaster to generate funds to support their life-altering work with homeless people and those at risk of becoming homeless. Doncaster business leaders slept out under the stars, experiencing a little of what those without homes go through every single night.
CEO Sleepout’s National Coordinator, Bianca Robinson, said: “Although it’s only for one night, and doesn’t come close to what homeless people experience night after night, CEO Sleepout is intended to raise awareness and lots of money to fight homelessness locally and nationally and also to remind all of us in business, about our social responsibility.
“Our team of CEOs and business leaders in Doncaster were fantastic when we spent that cold October night sleeping out. Together, they’ve raised an incredible sum of money which will make a huge difference to the work of local charities in supporting those in Doncaster who are most in need.”
Pat Hagan, head of localities and town centre at Doncaster Council, which helps administer Real Help Doncaster, said: “The Complex Lives Team is dedicated to accommodating and supporting people with complex needs who are homeless and rough sleeping. We are very pleased to be involved in CEO Sleepout to raise awareness and funds for helping homeless and vulnerable people in Doncaster. We are especially pleased that Real Help Doncaster will benefit from the CEO Sleepout and this will contribute to helping people off the street and into a healthier and safer lifestyle.”
Real Help Doncaster is an alternative giving scheme aimed at raising funds from business and the public to support people in Doncaster experiencing homelessness and is aimed at changing the way people are giving to address homelessness and begging on the streets.
Carl Hall, Vice President of the Rugby Football League at Club Doncaster Foundation, who participated in the Doncaster event, said: “I did the sleepout to show my support for the homeless; I’m still shocked with the figure of more than 200,000 homeless children. We’ve got to all we can do get this number down, kids need a better start in life. Hopefully the funds we raised can have an impact and get the homeless numbers down.”
The top fundraisers of the Doncaster sleepout included: Mark Telford, warehouse manager at IKEA, Damian Allen from Doncaster Council, Anthony Fitzgerald from Doncaster Clinical Commissioning Group and Tom Wheatley, governor of HMP Wakefield.
