EIGHTY hardy business leaders, including some from Gwent, have now signed up to ‘sleep rough’ to raise awareness of homelessness and poverty in South Wales.

The CEOSleepout Cardiff will take place in the grounds of Cardiff Castle on March 27, and business bosses from across the region will be taking part.

They will include former South Wales Argus marketing manager Steve Sulley, of Stills Design and the M4 Business Club; Damian Phillips, who works at the Langstone office of Darwin Gray; Ian Cole-Wilkins, of Celtic Springs-based Kilsby Williams and Dan Langford, of Acorn, which is also based at Celtic Springs.

The volunteers will sleep out regardless of the conditions as they attempt to raise up to £70,000 in sponsorship.

The money will then be distributed among four local charities involved in addressing the causes of homelessness, and supporting individuals faced with severe hardship.

Those charities are: the Trustle Trust (Cardiff Food Bank), Llamau, CEOSleepout UK, and Service Leavers Wales, an organisation which supports UK veterans after they leave the Armed Forces.

A similar event held in Newcastle last October raised more than £56,000, while the first event held in Middlesbrough last March raised more than £30,000.

CEOSleepoutUK founder and chairman Andy Preston said: “Cardiff looks set to host the most dramatic and generous CEOSleepout event in the UK in 2014.

“The energy and compassion of Cardiff's business leaders has genuinely inspired me."

One of the organisers for the Cardiff event, Dan Langford said: “This is a very worthwhile event, which has already received firm commitment from 80 senior business people from around the region. We hope the Cardiff event is one that other cities across the UK will look to emulate.

Mr Langford continued: “Some 85 per cent of homeless people had previously been subjected to some form of abuse in the past, and therefore we hope that this event will also help to raise awareness of these ‘hidden’ causes of homelessness.

“For the sake of a few hours under the stars we aim to raise a lot of money for some very deserving causes.”

If you would like to take part in the event or sponsor those that are then visit www.ceosleepoutuk.com/cardiff.html