Member Article

Hays UK staff sleep out to raise over £23,000 for leading youth homelessness charity

Hays staff from across the UK have raised over £23,000 for their charity partner End Youth Homelessness by taking part in Sleep Out events across the UK.

Hays employees from 11 regions voluntarily spent a night sleeping on the streets or in their back gardens, over October and November, to raise awareness of homeless young people in the UK. The physical Sleep Out events were arranged by End Youth Homelessness’ network of 11 local member charities across the UK.

Teams in Northern Ireland raised over £3,000, followed by events in the North West and London’s Client & Engagement teams both raising just under £2,500. In addition to the virtual Sleep Out, physical events were also held in the East of England, West and Wales and Midlands.

The money raised will go directly to End Youth Homelessness’ Employability Fund, which is part of their Independent Futures programme that Hays UK supports with both fundraising and strategic work. The fund will provide homeless young people with individually tailored support to work towards their career goals, whatever their previous education or work experience. The £23,157 raised so far will ensure the following outcomes for the young people:

• 1006 hours of support from a specialist jobs coach • 19 young people with tailored support they need to access/secure EET • At least 145 individual bursaries to help young people overcome the costs associated with getting into work and education, whether it’s a university course or the bus fare to a job interview. Bursaries could include: o IT supplies: laptops, phones, sim card, Wi-Fi o Travel expenses: bus fare, rail card, monthly bus pass o Identification documents: passports, provisional driving license • 926 nights of safe, warm accommodation for young people who have nowhere else to turn

Overall, Hays has raised over £163,706 for End Youth Homelessness since partnering with the charity in July 2019.

Karen Young, Director and National Charity lead at Hays UK, comments: “We are so proud to have raised over £23,000 which will go directly towards the EYH Employability fund. Staff across the country, including our UK&I MD spent the night outside in various locations to raise vital funds and recognise the challenges that homeless young people face. We’re looking forward to lots more fundraising challenges in 2022 as we play our part in creating opportunities and improving lives.”

Nick Connolly, Managing Director of End Youth Homelessness, said: “We are enormously grateful to everyone at Hays for their hard work and continued support. To have raised such a fantastic sum through Sleep Out is an incredible achievement and testament to their dedicated and generous workforce. Special thanks must also go to their Charity Representatives, for their ongoing commitment and support in raising money for our Employability Fund. The money raised will help homeless young people build the skills, confidence and high aspirations they need to get into work and out of homelessness for good.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Hays .