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CEO Sleepout

CEO Sleepout is a national charity launched to inspire the business community to unite in the fight against homelessness.

The charity stages events across the UK where business leaders spend a night sleeping under the stars, raising awareness and vital funds for frontline services tackling homelessness.

Throughout 2023, Harvey & Hugo supported CEO Sleepout with targeted PR activity designed to build national reach while making an impact in each location hosting an event.

Aim

CEO Sleepout needed to reach business leaders across the UK and encourage them to join its mission to unite against homelessness.

The team wanted PR support that could generate national awareness while also building visibility in the individual locations where sleepouts were taking place.

There was an opportunity to:

  • Increase awareness of CEO Sleepout and its mission across the UK
  • Encourage business leaders to sign up for events in their local areas
  • Generate tailored regional coverage around individual sleepouts
  • Build the profiles of the charity, CEO Bianca Robinson and event ambassadors
  • Use end-of-year results to demonstrate the scale and impact of the charity’s work

The Campaign

The PR activity was built around the charity’s programme of events, with stories tailored to the areas in which CEO Sleepout was holding sleepouts.

This localised approach helped the charity speak directly to business communities around the country while supporting its wider national profile.

The campaign centred on:

  • Pre-event press releases announcing upcoming sleepouts and encouraging business leaders to take part
  • Features introducing local ambassadors and their role in supporting individual events
  • End-of-year results highlighting the charity’s fundraising impact
  • Interview and profile-building opportunities for CEO Sleepout, Bianca Robinson, participants and ambassadors

Throughout 2023, Harvey & Hugo wrote, distributed and followed up on a series of press releases and features for CEO Sleepout, tailoring each story to the location in which an event was taking place.

Pre-event releases announced upcoming sleepouts and encouraged business leaders to sign up, while ambassador features introduced the people helping to champion the charity in their local areas.

End-of-year results provided another opportunity to demonstrate the scale of the charity’s activity and the impact of the funds raised.

Alongside proactive press activity, Harvey & Hugo liaised on interviews and profile-building opportunities for the charity, its CEO Bianca Robinson, and participants and ambassadors involved in individual sleepouts.

This helped extend the campaign beyond written releases and created further opportunities for CEO Sleepout’s message to reach relevant audiences.

The Results

Press releases written and pitched for CEO Sleepout secured more than 85 pieces of coverage throughout 2023.

Media coverage

Key titles included London Post, Yahoo!, The Northern Echo, Tees Business, Milton Keynes Citizen, MSN, Business Live, BBC Tees, The Business Magazine, Bdaily, Darlington & Stockton Times, Bristol World, London TV, East Midlands Business Link, Head Topics, MK FM and Leeds Live.

Record fundraising

CEO Sleepout raised a record £850,000 for the cause in 2023, with a large number of business leaders taking part in events across the country.

The funds were set to be distributed to more than 100 different causes across the UK to support people most in need.

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