When a bunch of co-workers from the consultancy firm GHD needed a place to host their Winter Sleepout, they looked no further than the office deck.

Now, as they prepare to bunker down for a night with colleagues, the group - known as the Young Professionals - is continuing their company's proud tradition of supporting charity events.

Here they explain how the idea came about.

"The Young Professionals committee members are the main drivers of this event. We are trying to create a buzz and excitement around the office with continual promotion as well as speaking to people individually to generate interest. We are also donating the money raised from our casual day for the whole month of August to the Winter Sleepout. So far we have 10 people signed up to sleep out, but we are on the recruitment drive so we are hoping for a few more.

GHD's Winter Sleep out will take place outside on the deck of their Newcastle office. Volunteers will be required to raise funds as a group, and to donate a small amount per person to camp out for the night. A BBQ and a small presentation on the problem of homelessness will be provided.

Throughout the night volunteers will be encouraged to interact, play cards, and have fun, however we will also ask that they take some time to think about why they are there and what it would be like to be without a safe place to stay every night. We will be taking photos on the evening and adding them the GHD's Facebook page to help further promote awareness.

Homelessness is something that you really don't want to think about, and you just hope that you never find yourself in that situation. As a group we have already learned some new things about homelessness in preparing for our Winter Sleepout.

We now understand that there are many different causes and types of homelessness, which may differ from some people's stereotypical view of homelessness. It surprised us to learn how fast someone's life can spiral out of control and how they could become homeless through no fault of their own. Someone's life can change unexpectedly and they'll find themselves in a seemingly hopeless situation.

By holding our own Winter Sleepout, our GHD YP Group can better understand what it would actually be like not to have a safe and secure place to stay every night. By changing people's perception of homelessness and allowing them to empathise with homeless people, we hope to be able to create a real change in our workplace and community.

We chose to support Mission Australia because it is such a well-known and trusted charity organisation. Mission Australia has been changing people's lives for over 150 years through their tireless fundraising efforts, and we decided it was about time that we at GHD got involved.

My advice to other companies thinking about holding a Winter Sleepout is, just do it, and start organising early. As a great man once said "a journey of a thousand miles, starts with a single step" (Lao-Tzu). Once you take the first step the rest will fall into place, and once you do that, you can achieve something really great for your local community."