£177,300 raised so far after CEOs take to the concrete for a sleepout to help combat homelessness
By Eleanor McGillie
November 25, 2022
HUMBLED and honoured are just some of the words used by our colleagues who joined an entire team of executives on Monday night for a sleepout to raise awareness and money for people who are homeless in the UK.
Our ‘Leading Light’ and CEO Peter McGahan and our valued independent financial adviser and Community Ambassador, Peter Meeson, joined a team to raise money for the London Irish Foundation’s ‘Beat The Street’ programme and for projects being run by CEO Sleepout.
To date, over £177,000 has been raised by CEOs and executives taking part in the different CEO Sleepout events which took place in cities up and down the UK.
Worldwide’s two Peters, who have worked side by side for years, were side by side at ‘Lords Cricket Ground’ St John’s Wood in London where like minded executives all shared stories and listened to the real life stories of people who have successfully got off the streets thanks to the work of organisations such as the London Irish Foundation.
Speaking about the experience, Peter Meeson, said: “It was an amazing night and the people we met were absolutely lovely and incredibly inspirational. All of us got the feeling that we were all absolutely doing the right thing, for the right cause. I was very humbled and honoured to be a part of the experience and I for sure want to be doing it again next year.”
Similarly, Peter McGahan was also very humbled. He said: “We all have our nine emotional needs. There is no way a person who is homeless is having their emotional needs being met. If you go down the list of needs - security, having a safe environment to develop, attention, feeling of control in our lives, feeling part of a wider community, emotional intimacy, privacy, a sense of status within social groupings, a sense of competence and achievement, and meaning and purpose – someone who is homeless will not have any of these needs being met. It has to change. We are talking about human beings. We all have a role to play in helping people and being kind. For some people, life is a merry-go-round and people can’t get off. We must help them.
“We all know it was only one night. We all know the next morning we could go home, or go to a hotel, get showered, eat cooked food, drink clean water and continue with our lives. For homeless people, they were packing up their soaking wet clothes, sleeping bags or tents, to find the next spot where they would lay their head. There’s nothing secure or safe about that.
“To have collectively raised over £177,000 is phenomenal. The Collection Pot is still open to take more donations so if you are able to spare some money, please do so here - https://bit.ly/3UB4UUk and thank you to everyone who has contributed.”
Andy Keast, CEO of the London Irish Foundation, said: “A heartfelt thank you goes out to the Peters from Worldwide Financial Planning. You are incredibly supportive of the work we do and it was brilliant to have our ambassador Louis Stone there to talk to you both.
“£177,300 is a humongous achievement and will do so much good work. We can make a change to people’s lives. Every penny and pound donated will help us make that difference. Thank you.”
