Staff at Edinburgh-based company to stay up all night for charity

Big-hearted workers at an Edinburgh-based company are set to take part in a virtual event to raise money for a homelessness charity.
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Fourteen Emerald Works employees will join the Stay:Up fundraiser for Centre Point – a charity which supports more than 14,000 young people across the UK with housing, health and education.

A sleep-out had originally been planned by the charity but that could not go ahead because of the pandemic, so it instead organised the “stay-up” event which will see participants join in from their own home and keep in touch through Zoom.

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Fundraisers taking part will stay awake from 8pm on Thursday (October 8) until 8am on Friday (October 9).

Katie Danes, 49, is among those taking part in a virtual event to raise money for a homelessness charity.Katie Danes, 49, is among those taking part in a virtual event to raise money for a homelessness charity.
Katie Danes, 49, is among those taking part in a virtual event to raise money for a homelessness charity.

Katie Danes, 49, a sales manager at Emerald Works, said helping young people is a cause close to her heart.

Ms Danes said: “It’s more important than ever to support as much as you can.

“For me, personally, I’ve got a 19-year-old son and I’ve had real tough times bringing him up on my own.

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“I was really lucky because I did have support of friends and family, but there were times when I was literally like rice or beans for dinner – but we had a roof over our heads.

“Whenever I’m travelling and I see homeless women, couples, men, youngsters, it absolutely breaks my heart and I just feel so fortunate that in my time of need I did have that support network, and how terrible it is that these people are in this situation because they feel there is no other option available to them.”

Fellow fundraiser and colleague Alice Gledhill, 22, said: “It’s my age group as well and it’s incredible for me to think someone like me could be in that position.

“We’ve spoken to representatives from Centre Point who said these people are normal teenagers – they want to wear designer clothes, they want to go to school and want to get a part-time job.

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“It’s just astounding for me to think that you can’t have those basic things just because you don’t have a roof over your head, and that’s just horrific.”

Both women welcomed the support of the wider team at Emerald Works, and their bosses.

Ms Danes said: “It’s been really nice to see the support internally across the groups.

“It’s pulling together people who have never really met or worked together, which has been a really nice sense of community.

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“We’ve raised £1,703 across 14 of us and we’re really proud of our efforts today.

“What’s been really amazing is that CEOs from both sides of the business are taking part and staying up with us, which is huge I think in this day and age to have that support.”

On Thursday night, the group will keep themselves entertained with quizzes and workouts, while content assistant Miss Gledhill will act as the resident DJ.

Ms Danes said: “We’re doing a book club for Street Cat Named Bob, and will discuss homelessness and the awareness.”

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You can make a donation to the team through: https://www.justgiving.com/team/STAYUPTeam2020-EmeraldWorks

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