Fairfax duo raises $23,000 on cold Sydney night... and others freeze too

At six degrees, it was a cold night to be roughing it… but two top Fairfax Media executive did exactly that to help raise more than $2.7 million for the St Vincent de Paul Society. It’s chief executive and managing director Brian McCarthy’s second time on the ‘CEO Sleepout’, of which Fairfax’s ‘AFR Boss’ magazine is a sponsor. With Sydney publishing chief executive Lloyd Whish-Wilson, he was among 684 business and community leaders who slept rough in capital cities across Australia, experiencing first hand what it is like to be homeless. By Friday afternoon, they had raised $23,000 between them. Another Fairfax supporter was Ken Nichols, general manager of the Canberra Times, who raised $4740 at the Canberra event. Among those taking part from the News Limited camp were Advertiser Newspapers business editor Chris Russell, and Matt Deighton (editor-in-chief) and Gordon Armstrong (editorial manager) of Messenger Newspapers in Adelaide; and Julian Ricci, (editor) and Grant Galvin (general manager) of the Northern Territory News in Darwin. Money already raised will go directly towards the ongoing provision of Vinnies' homeless services across the country, and there is still time to donate via the website at www.ceosleepout.org.au