THIS year Byte Night Thames Valley, the annual sleep-out held in support of Action for Children, is taking place on Friday, October 3, at Forbury Gardens, in Reading.

Marketing firm C8 Consulting will be participating in the event for the fourth year running. Managing director Paula Elliott and four employees will brave the elements in the hope of raising £3,000 the charity.

C8 has also agreed to provide national trade and technology PR support for the event on a pro-bono basis.

Every year thousands of individuals and teams from across the IT and business community give up their beds for a night in a bid to raise money for Action for Children, a charity that looks to tackle the problem of youth homelessness.

In addition to the Thames Valley in October, events are also held in London, Belfast, Cambridge, Edinburgh, the Midlands, the North West and the South West.

Since its beginning 17 years ago, Byte Night has grown to over 1,400 sleepers and is the biggest charity sleep-out in the UK.

In 2013, over £1million was raised across all events.

In order to help make the 2014 sleep-out even more of a success, C8 Consulting is calling on all businesses based in the Thames Valley to get behind the cause and is looking to encourage at least three new companies to register their participation.

Byte Night is not only an opportunity to raise money for Action for Children, but also provides a first-hand reminder of what some young people have to go through every day.

Paula Elliott said: “I am very excited to be putting forward a team again this year and to be providing pro-bono PR support for the national trade and technology PR campaign.

“It has been a great privilege to be involved and to see the event grow in size over time.

“Young people should not have to go through such challenging and terrifying experiences at such a fragile age.

“It is so important that we do what we can to help. And it’s not just about youth homelessness – I’ve also heard tragic stories about abuse, attempted suicide and utter despair that would break your heart.

“We have to prevent this where we can and believe me, every donation whatever size, really does help.”

After a record-breaking 2013, Byte Night is hoping that this year will be even more successful and has set itself a fundraising target of £1.3million. It will be a challenge, but there is a real desire across the business community to help these vulnerable young people.

To find out more about Byte Night visit bytenight.org.uk and to sponsor Paula and the C8 team go to justgiving.com/C8ConsultingByteNight14.