For most CEOs, the idea of slumming it probably means spending the night in a Travelodge. But then Bianca Robinson isn't your typical CEO.
As the day-to-day boss of the beloved homelessness charity CEO Sleepout, Bianca has spent around three weeks a year for the last eight years sleeping rough.
“I’ve taken part in over 100 sleepouts now, and faced everything from storms to snow,” said Bianca.
“It isn’t easy – but the impact we create is incredible.”
Since launching in 2013, CEO Sleepout has raised over £6m to help over 200 frontline causes helping some of Britain’s most vulnerable people experiencing poverty or homelessness.
Last year, the Middlesbrough-based charity raised £750,000 to support 85 different organisations throughout Britain.
But Bianca admits it still isn’t enough.
“While support for CEO Sleepout has been phenomenal, rates of poverty and homelessness are going completely in the wrong direction,” she added.
“Rough sleeping is sadly rising and we now have more children classed as homeless than ever before. Families are struggling to survive, but so are the charities they turn to in their hour of need. Every individual has a story, and a reason they are facing homelessness.”
That’s why in 2026, Bianca is upping the ante.
Ahead of the charity’s first sleeout of the year in March, she’s set a £1m fundraising target for 2026.
“It would be a record, and there’s a real desire for change – but we need more fundraisers,” added Bianca.
And in the North East, they are needed in the coming months.
While the first sleepout of 2026 takes place in Kent on March 23, spring will see a flurry of events in our region.
The first will be in Middlesbrough, with dozens expected to bed down for the night at the Riverside Stadium on April 30.
A fortnight later, the charity will move to Northumberland for the Alnwick CEO Sleepout, which takes place in the magical setting of Lilidorei at Alnwick Gardens.
But while the backdrop may be enchanting, the reality is that for thousands across the North East, life is anything but a fairytale.
In Sunderland – where a sleepout is scheduled for early November, figures uncovered by CEO Sleepout found that, on average, a household there turns to help from the council for housing every 12 hours.
In Newcastle, rough sleeping has rocketed by over 25 per cent since the start of the decade.
But as Bianca points out, behind the numbers are real people.
That’s why this year, CEO Sleepout’s campaign is simply ‘Names before Numbers’.
It aims to show that behind the record rates of homelessness are real stories of people – and from every walk of life.
“The numbers are shocking. For example, 175,000 children don’t have a guaranteed roof over their heads which for context, is more than three times the size of St James’ Park,” added Bianca.
“But numbers don’t tell the real story of just how hard it is, of the real struggles facing real people every day, and this year we are determined to show the real faces of those experiencing the unimaginable pain of life without a home.”
Heading into the charity’s 13th year, CEO Sleepout will stage 20 events across the UK with sleepouts spanning Aberdeen to Brighton.
And crucially, the money raised is not just keeping services afloat but creating lasting change.
In 2025, CEO Sleepout took a major step forward by backing its first-ever bricks-andmortar project, helping to resurrect York’s NAPpads, providing safe, dignified temporary accommodation for some of the city’s rough sleepers.
“This is what the sleepouts are really about and prove that when we come together, we can change lives,” added Bianca.
“And that’s why I’ll always keep sleeping out.”
ceosleepout.co.uk