On 8 November 2019, five AO employees, known as AO’ers, took part in the Manchester Sleepout and raised £2000 for the Booth Centre, a charity who support homeless people in Manchester. The annual event invites people to take on the challenge of sleeping outside for one night to experience the hardships that homeless people face every night.

This year’s event, hosted by Manchester Cathedral, saw the group of AO’ers spend the night sleeping outside the cathedral. Armed with sleeping bags, they braved the freezing cold conditions and stayed outside for the whole night, where temperatures dropped down to just zero degrees in the early hours of the morning.

In the lead up to the event, the group has been hard at work fundraising and managed to raise a fantastic £1587.50. AO.com’s charity arm AO Smile boosted the amount raised, taking the final total to £2000.

Beth Clegg, Customer Experience Specialist at AO.com who took part said:

“It was great to see so many people coming together to help raise money and support the fantastic work the Booth Centre does. I experienced just how difficult the colder months can be for homeless people and it was a rewarding experience to help contribute towards a good cause”.

The Booth Centre are a charity who offer advice, support and activities for people who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness in Manchester. Over 400 people took part in the Manchester Sleepout and the money raised will enable the Booth Centre to continue to support hundreds more people in the coming year.