A group of staff at accountants and business advisers HURST staged an overnight sleep out to raise money for Mustard Tree, a charity that supports homeless and other marginalised people across Greater Manchester.

The seven who swapped their warm beds for sleeping bags on the car park of HURST’s Stockport office were trainee accountants Ellie Mae Wild and Mat Wagstaffe, associate partner Jo Warburton, audit senior Laura Mackowiak, corporate finance executive Lauren Roberts, marketing executive Lucy McCormick and business services executive Katie Waud.

The 12-hour sleep out raised more than £1,200 for Mustard Tree, which is HURST’s charity of the year for 2017.

The proceeds take the amount HURST has raised for Mustard Tree to more than £6,500.

Mustard Tree provides food, furniture, clothing and training to boost people’s life skills. Founded in 1994, the charity has its headquarters on Oldham Road in Ancoats, Manchester, and sites in Eccles and Little Hulton, Salford.

Lucy said: “Mustard Tree is a brilliant charity which transforms the lives of people trapped in homelessness or poverty. We are delighted that by supporting Mustard Tree we are helping it to continue with its great work.

“For us, sleeping out was just for one night, but sadly this is not the case for many people in Manchester, where statistics show homelessness has risen sharply in the past year.”

Among the fundraising events organised by HURST this year was a sponsored 400km cycle ride through Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

The next event is a five-a-side football tournament at the Trafford Soccer Dome.