3rd
May
2012
GamesAid has released its annual video featuring the six charities that received the most votes from its members and who all received a donation of £29,000 each in 2011.
The six charities featured were; Action for Kids, Jigsaw4u, Lifelites, SpecialEffect, Volunteer Centre Sutton: MAPS, The Willow Foundation.
2nd
May
2012
The seventh GamesAid Charity Poker Tournament, sponsored by Relentless Software and Eurogamer, will take place from 8pm on the evening of Tuesday 10th July 2012 at The Grosvenor Casino, Brighton Seafront. The game is Texas Hold 'Em No Limit with a £50 buy-in. Cash re-buys and add-ons will also be available on the night and a number of exciting prizes can be won, including £300 for first place, £150 for second place and a selection of other great prizes for third, fourth and fifth places. As always, all levels of players are welcome.
To take part please register your £50 buy-in and charitable contribution at the JustGiving Page. Many thanks to our friends at Relentless Software for their on-going sponsorship and help in making the tournament happen, the awesome team at Eurogamer for providing waitresses this year, and to all of you for your continued support of GamesAid. We love you, poker players! For more information please email Mark Ward.
2nd
May
2012
NCsoft superwoman Cat Channon has completed part 1 of her challenge (running the Brighton marathon), but still has parts 2 and 3 to go: cycling across Europe from gamescom to Brighton before heading strait to Gilbratar where she'll be swimming to North Africa. So dig deep folks and support her by visiting her JustGiving Page.
1st
May
2012
Many thanks to Jonathan Weinberg who has been donating his extensive collection of games etc to the GamesAid eBay account, raising over £1400 so far. If you fancy doing the same please send your old games, merchandise etc to Gary Winter/Craig McFadyen, GamesAid, C/O The Producers Ltd, 2 Stonehill, Stukeley Meadows, Huntingdon, PE29 6ED.
25th
April
2012
If you thought your chance of strutting your stuff at a professional football ground had long since passed you by well think again. Electronic Arts and Future Publishing have combined to bring you the chance to play at Swindon Town FC on May 18th and raise a bunch of money for GamesAid into the bargain.
So be that midfield maestro, or defending colossus or a greedy striker and show your skills off to the rest of the industry. The teams will be loosely grouped around Games Media vs. Industry Allstars. 90 Minutes of the beautiful game, with the obligatory 4 minutes of time added on is yours if you can do the following:
The game will be kicking off at 2.00pm, details of directions / timing / team captains and refreshments will be sent out to you once you have followed steps 1 and 2.
25th
April
2012
Guests and sponsors of this year's MCV Awards have raised over £4,000 for GamesAid. The annual GamesAid Tenner initiative saw monies raised via online and on the night from all corners of the business. A big thanks to Intent Media and all those who donated.
24th
April
2012
The NCsoft GamesAid British London 10K team are ready to take in the sights of central on the 8th July. Please show your support for Gavin Johnson, Scott Garrod, Harald Simon, Becky Lindon, Tom Wallace, Ed Rowlands, Jack Bannerman, Laura Disney, Tom Ling, Craig Stephens, Russell Ball & Liz Corless by sponsoring them via their JustGiving Page or by texting GAID73 £1, £2, £5 or £10 to 70070.
18th
April
2012
A big congratulations to the NCsoft GamesAid Brighton Marathon Team: Andy Payne, Cat Channon, Chole Gusti, Mark Ward, Dom & Chris Mingay who all completed the marathon on Sunday.
Massive thanks go to Rosemarie Dalton (Bethesda) for organising the runners and the whole event, it would never have happened without her vision, leadership and drive. Dean Barrett (Bastion) supplied all the refreshments and put on a banquet of food for all the runners and their friends and supporters. Not only did he cook up a storm but he supplied the GamesAid signs and put GamesAid posters up in the windows. He was feeding the runners their porridge at 6.30am and continued to open his home up to all and sundry and provide food and drink for a house full of supporters and runners until 9.30pm!!! Thanks also to Kirsty Payne (Mastertronic & Voltage) for ably assisting Dean and supporting everyone around the course. Props also to Graeme Struthers (Get Games), Christina Camerota (Universal Pictures), Rupert Loman (Eurogamer), Paul & Barbara Loman, Alistair Hatch (Bethesda), Johanna Hatch (Square Enix), Kerri West (SCEE) and Tony Hinds (SCEE) for their generous support on the day. And all those who Tweeted support along each and every one of the 26 miles.
And finally a massive GamesAid thank you to NC Soft who sponsored the places in the first place.
So far the GamesAid team has raised £7198.01. Add to this the £2,036.99 raised by Relentless Runners, Andy Buchanan, Paul Woodbridge and Giles Armstrong and the £1525 raised by Cat Channon as part of Cat's Challenge and they have raised over £10,000 for GamesAid!
16th
April
2012
Jamie Firth and Grace Harriman-Read were the two winners of our annual GamesAid Grand National Sweepstake thanks to their selection, Neptune Collonges, getting up by a nose to win the big race on Saturday. Both will be receiving a sizable box of games for their troubles and we must send huge thanks to the companies who so generously donated prizes. They are: 2K Games, Bethesda, Capcom, Codemasters, EA, Konami, SEGA, Square Enix and Ubisoft. An unbelievable amount of games were donated and they will continue to be used for fundraisers throughout the year. A big thanks to GamesAid Ambassador Steve Key from Hijack Promotions for organising and to everyone else for their support in our Spring Racing Double Header as we raised a total of £910!
4th
April
2012
Following on from a hugely successful 2011 debut, the Grand National Sweepstake is back. All you have to do is donate £10 to GamesAid via the JustGiving Page and you’ll be entered. We’ll draw the horses on Thursday 12th April in the afternoon in preparation for the race on the 14th April. Each sweepstake holds 40 people – the number of runners in the race. If we have more, we’ll just run a second tournament alongside it with the same prize. But what are the prizes? We’ll announce those next week!
4th
April
2012
It gives the Trustees great pleasure to announce that Andy Payne has rejoined GamesAid as a Trustee. We are delighted to have him back and in Andy's own words "'I was always advised by those who thought they knew better never to go back. I loved my time at GamesAid so much that I thought I would ignore that. Can't wait to get started!'
4th
April
2012
A big thanks to Koch Media and MCV for organising the GamesAid United vs Chelsea Old Boys match on the 16th March. A big thanks also to all of the players who took part, raising £2510 for GamesAid, although they lost the match 7-2 on the day.
3rd
April
2012
A big thanks to the folks at SJS for organising the 5-aside tournament at the Lucozade Powerleague Centre in Wembley on the 27th March. They raised £1610 for GamesAid whith Generation:Swapit winning the tournament, followed by SJS and then in third Mind Candy (Moshi Monster's FC). Pictures from the day can be found here.
28th
March
2012
Derek Bashford, Emma Bennett, Steve Harradence, Ryan Janes and the rest of FanCensus will be hosting a special event. Beginning Friday April 20th at 18:00 they will start streaming a 24 hour gaming marathon on their Justin TV channel. Every hour they will be playing a different game, from Mario Kart and Rock Band to Sonic and Battlefield, while rasing money for GamesAid in the process. During the event they'll be chatting live with their viewers, giving away plenty of prizes and generally having fun so be sure to tune in. Please support them by donating at their JustGiving Page.
28th
March
2012
GameHack, taking place on the 28th and 29th April at Pinewood Studios, provides participants with the opportunity to think creatively and develop an original game under pressure within just 24 hours. It enables participants to work innovatively as a team in an inspirational setting with the chance to win some amazing prizes as well as network with some of the best developers in the UK games industry. Although entrance is free, participants are asked to make a £5 charity donation, with half the funds raised going to GamesAid. For more information visit gamehack.co.uk.
27th
March
2012
After months of training and with only a few weeks to go, Relentless runners Andy Buchanan, Paul Woodbridge, Paul Grimstone and Giles Armstrong are also set to tackle the Brighton Marathon. This year the team is looking to double their sponsorship target last year and raise a whopping £2000 for GamesAid! In recognition of their superhuman effort, please sponsor whatever you can via their JustGiving Page; in the words of a certain supermarket, every little helps!
23rd
March
2012
A big thanks to Joe Samuels and everyone at Supermassive Games for organising the inaugural Guildford Games Night Challenge . The night was a massive success with around 200 people attending, raising £2300 for GamesAid. Teams attending included Supermassive, Relentless, Zynga, Rodeo, Sherridans, Lionhead, Creative Assembly and Search 4 Technology with Creative Assembly beating Supermassive 3-1 in the FIFA final.
22nd
March
2012
Four frantic days of racing are over and now the dust has settled, we have a winner. Dave Noble took a gamble (obviously) and placed his entire virtual bank on Rock on Ruby in the big race on Tuesday, who duly won at odds of 11/1, guaranteeing him over £600 in virtual profit and a brand new PS Vita. Thanks to all who entered – full details are here.
22nd
March
2012
The SEGA GamesAid Cricket Challenge Cup returns for a third year on 23rd May at Kew Green Cricket Club. Four teams will be competiting with an entrance fee of £50 per player. If you would like to play then contact the GameAid Trustees and we will put you in contact with one of the captains.
21st
March
2012
Lifelites install packages of fun and educational technology for children into all 44 children’s hospices in the UK. The packages are full of state-of-the-art technology, and some of it is especially designed for children with multiple disabilities. But it’s the Xbox Kinect, which tracks the player’s movements, that gets the kids really excited. The Kinect is hooked up to a huge flat screen TV and is one of the focal points of the hospice’s main living area. “It’s great for children with visual problems as it really draws them in” Pam Howson, head of care at Demelza House hospice explained. As no handheld controller is needed to play the new games, children can use their bodies to create whatever movement is possible for them. So for many children whose disabilities and limited dexterity means they are unable to use traditional games consoles, it becomes about what they can do rather than what they can’t. Sophie has problems with her coordination which often means she is unable to play games requiring dexterity, and in the past this has led to her feeling isolated. However, since the Kinect was donated as part of the Lifelites package for the children of Demelza House, her world has expanded. “It’s really boosted her confidence,” Pam told Lifelites, “She was on it nonstop during her last visit; it really brought her out of herself. It helps to increase her confidence as she can use whatever movement she does have. It helps with her concentration too.”
17th
March
2012
This year's MCV Awards ceremony takes place on Thursday 19th April at the Lancaster London Hotel and marks the 10th Anniversary of the event. For those lucky enough to be going don’t forget to bring your GamesAid Tenner along with you on the night or alternatively you can donate at the JustGiving Page now.
14th
March
2012
A. aged 15 years witnessed her father’s death at the family home in 2011 in traumatic circumstances. Jigsaw4u completed a home visit to meet with the family and it was identified that 1:1 support would be more beneficial to A. as she is in year 11 and working towards her GCSE exams in June 2012. A. engaged really well in all of the sessions. She was able to talk freely about her feelings around her father’s death as she recorded in the pre evaluation that previously she had felt unable to talk about her father. Communication with her family around her father’s death has improved as a result and during the Christmas holidays they were able to discuss the many happy memories they all had of him. Mrs B also mentioned at the original assessment that A had struggled somewhat at school towards the end of last term term. She has now applied for a place to study at 6th form and has also received awards for her academic achievements at school. These have been rewarded by commendations from the headmaster and teaching staff who have acknowledged the challenges she faced and her ability to overcome these. You can see from this one example how important the work is that GamesAid is funding for Jigsaw4u. This work was enabled by working with one family member but benefited the whole family.
8th
March
2012
Ella and Chloe both have motor control problems that make it difficult for them to join in physical activities with their friends. Computer gaming is the one activity that can offer them equal and independent inclusion, but they find it too difficult to use standard handheld controllers without assistance. That is until now. Ella and Chloe visited SpecialEffect’s Games Room with their parents to see if we could help. Bill, their technical specialist and Gillian, their occupational therapist, helped the girls with their positioning and set up for the Xbox Kinect. Just as importantly, they introduced the girls to a selection of games that would be easy enough for them to use by themselves, as well as providing motivation and fun. Games like Fruit Ninja and Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster were instant hits. Julie, Ella’s mum, was overwhelmed. “Thank you so much - it was brilliant,” she said, “Ella was chattering non-stop about it.” They’ve subsequently been able to support both girls and their families by setting up games and equipment in their own homes via their Loan Library. Ella and Chloe are already planning to visit each other’s houses for games parties where they’ll take on and beat their other friends – and their parents! You can wat a short video of Ella and Chole here. Thanks to the support from GamesAid SpeciaEffect can continue to help Ella and Chloe and others like them.
7th
March
2012
Ever wanted to play against the Chelsea Old Boys? What if you could do it for a charity? Well, now you can! Koch Media and MCV are organising a football match between the games industry and some of Chelsea FC’s past icons to raise money for GamesAid. The GamesAid vs Chelsea Old Boys will take place at the club’s Cobham training ground on Friday 23rd March, with a suggested kick-off of 1.30pm. There will be 18 former Chelsea players on the Old Boys team, including Clive Walker, Dave Beasant, John Bumstead, Neil Shipperley, Steve Finnieston and Tommy Langley. Applicants can bid for one of the twelve places here. The highest bids at midday on Friday 16th March will form the squad. Koch Media will supply GamesAid-branded kits to the team, which winning members can keep as a memento. An additional shirt will be signed by the Chelsea Old Boys and auctioned at the GamesAid Golf & Spa Day on Thursday 12th July.
6th
March
2012
A team from Square Enix Europe will be taking part in a gruelling bicycle based challenge on Sunday 13th May in order to raise money for GamesAid. Paul O'Sullivan, Julien Ognier, Tiago Silva, Zane Smith, Antonio Marfuggi, Andy Hawkins, David Pettit, Mark Bulley and Jan Buchner will be cycling from London to Brighton and they're not going to stop until they've purchased an ice cream on the pier! Please support them by sponsoring them via their JustGiving Page.
1st
March
2012
GamesAid has helped Volunteer Centre Sutton: MAPS to continue to offer mentoring and peer support service for some of societies most vulnerable and marginalised children and young people from ages 5-19yrs. One such example is Lucy who was referred to mentoring at the end of year 10 because of her poor attendance and her overwhelming feelings of anxiety and pressure. Her parents were going through a difficult time with home life being so turbulent she felt responsible to care for her younger siblings to shelter them from all the arguments. She was at an emotional crisis, suffering from panic attacks when she left the house and even suicidal thoughts. Despite this Lucy was a very bright girl with a strong personality, a talent for performing and was passionate about music. Lucy was worried she would fail her GCSEs, was still struggling to leave the house and couldn’t see a good future for herself. Mentoring helped to improve her attendance to 80%; do a scrapbook focusing on positives and increase her confidence and self esteem. She has already achieved A grades in her GCSEs and is predicted A’s right through her core subjects and she no longer has panic attacks.
29th
February
2012
Following on from the success of the event last year, we’re pleased to announce the return of the Cheltenham Festival Tipping Competition. The format has changed slightly this year, entrance costs £10 and you will be given a virtual bank of £100. All they have to do is tell us how they would like to bet that money during the four days of the biggest jump racing festival in the UK and whoever shows the most profit from their selections will win the top prize of a brand new PS Vita. For full information, go to the website.
27th
February
2012
We would like to say a big thank you to Brian Holmes who recently shot and edited the new GamesAid video and also shot and edited last year’s video for us. For more information on the services that Brian can offer please contact him .
23rd
February
2012
Here at GamesAid we are used to seeing really fab things happen and good vibes coming from all the hard work that the members continue to put in tirlessly. But last week, we got some really bad news through.
One of our former Trustees and now a GamesAid Ambassador, Richard ‘Dickie’ Stickler was the victim of a savage attack on his way home after a night out. As usual Richard was trying to help someone who was being sick by offering them a drink of water only to be set upon by a group of thugs. He was knocked to the ground, fractured his skull and also suffered a broken jaw. He has also had subsequent problems with his hearing. He is out of hospital now and busy promoting the GamesAid Golf and Spa Day which Gem so kindly run every year.
They say you can’t keep a good man down, and Dickie is certainly one of those souls who puts others first. He has done amazing work down the years for GamesAid and we know nothing, but nothing will stop him.
Richard and the many like him are an inspiration to all of us so let’s raise a digital glass to Dickie Stickler, fortunately he is still with us and we all love him.
23rd
February
2012
GamesAid has helped the Willow Foundation to fund special day experiences for younger adults aged 16-40 like Ryan, 23. Before Ryan was diagnosed with a brain tumour, the aspiring writer had been living the carefree life of a student enjoying the independence of living away from home and studying at university. Suddenly everything changed. After two sessions of major surgery and the hard realities of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, he desperately needed something to lift his spirits. That’s where the Willow Foundation stepped in. Having a special day to look forward to gave him something positive to focus on throughout his treatment. Despite his illness, when the charity called to tell Ryan they had arranged for him to meet Father Ted writer, Graham Linehan, it gave him a renewed lust for life and his writing. Ryan said: “My whole day was exactly what I needed at that time. When I look back at the year I had cancer I now have positive lasting memories of my day to focus on and this was one of the greatest experiences of my life so far.” Thank you for your continued support.
15th
February
2012
The 5th Annual Summer Charity Golf & Spa Day for GamesAid is being held on Thursday 12th July 2012 at The Grove in Watford, the venue of Tiger Woods' victory in the American Express Championship in 2006. Hopefully you will recall the success of previous years events, where the efforts of many of the industry’s key companies helped GamesAid raise the largest amount of money ever from one single event, for children's charities and worthy causes across the UK. With your support the event is now on target to have raised over a QUARTER OF A MILLION POUNDS in 5 years!
For more information and photos from previous events, please go to www.golfandspaday.com. BUT HURRY!!! THE EVENT IS FILLING UP FAST!
INTERESTED IN SPONSORING THE EVENT? We have a couple of Gold and Silver Packages still available, please contact Richard for more information.
BOOKING ENQUIRES: Please contact Emilie.
15th
February
2012
GamesAid is delighted to announce that thanks to our members and our work with the disabled children’s charity, Action For Kids, we have revamped a specialist powered wheelchair for Saheba Qadeer, the little girl who appears in her Whizzybug in our online film. The Whizzybug has been invaluable for Saheba to experience a new sense of independence and mobility, but is now too small for her and she needs a much more grown up wheelchair. So, thanks to our members fundraising efforts and the team at Action For Kids, we’ve managed to refurbish a specialist powered wheelchair for Saheba, which is not available on the NHS. In addition, GamesAid will cover the cost of maintaining the wheelchair, so it stays in tip top condition. We would like to say a massive thank you to all of you who have helped make this possible. Saheba absolutely loves her new ‘big girl’s chair’!
15th
February
2012
Once again in 2012 Mobile Pie will be running the gruelling Bristol 10K in the name of GamesAid. This year they want to dobule the amount raised to £1,000. If Tim Schafer can do it, they can do it for charity. Please sponsor them at their JustGiving Page.
13th
February
2012
The folks at SJS are organising a 5-aside tournament at Wembley in March which they hope will raise £2,000 for GamesAid. They have been offered space at the Lucozade Powerleague Centre on the afternoon of the 27th March for this and they would like to give mixed teams of any ability the chance to compete for fun, everlasting glory, and a good cause. They are looking for teams of 8 players to enter, at £25 per head – which includes a burger and a beer (on them, to be consumed before or after playing, according to taste). If you are interested in entering a team then please head over to their JustGiving Page.
10th
February
2012
It's time to settle once and for all which Guildford Studio is the best where it really counts! On the pitch and rocking the main stage! Supermassive Games are hosting the inaugural Guildford Games Night Challenge, a fun evening of serious gaming, serious drinking and serious fun, with all proceeds going to GamesAid. The FIFA 12 and Rock Band Tournaments are the main events, with side-events to be announced. Fans, supporters, groupies and hangers-on are most welcome and actively encouraged! Teams of four can enter the FIFA 12 or Rock Band Tournaments at a cost of £100 per team, with everyone else paying £5 entry on the door, including free entry into the raffle. The event takes place on Thursday 15th March - 6.30pm to 11pm at the Mandolay Hotel, London Road, Guildford. To enter head over to the JustGiving Page or contact Joe at for more details.
8th
February
2012
PRMageddon, the annual event for PRs to show their love and appreciation to the wonderful journalists that are so vital to the games industry has raised £700 for GamesAid. A big thanks to GamesAid Ambassador, Stefan McGarry from SEGA, for organising last year’s PRMageddon and thanks to all the PR people that attended helping to raise the money. It was a brilliant night enjoyed by everyone!
1st
February
2012
Nick Haywood, from SteelSeries, will joining Cat on her ride from gamescom to Brighton. Last year Nick got back into mountain biking so when Cat asked for volunteers to do the gamescom to Brighton ride, it seemed like a perfectly insane thing to do. To get into shape he’s taken to walking to the car and not eating the jam filling in his doughnuts. Besides being willingly tazed at CES a few years ago he claims this is the maddest thing he’s done. Please support Nick by visiting his JustGiving Page.
26th
January
2012
GamesAid is delighted to announce that the inaugural littleBIGbunch successfully closed, raising significant funds from its launch on December 14th through to closing on January 2nd. Over 20,000 gamers registered for the bundle and when deciding where their money went, the funds were split pretty evenly between GamesAid and the Developers. Mommy’s Best Games, Oddworld Inhabitants, New Star Games, Mode 7 and Curve Studios deserve all the kudos and respect for their support and to the thousands of gamers who embraced and supported this venture, GamesAid extends their heartfelt thanks. GamesAid is now planning littleBIGbunch 2. Any Indie developers who would like to get involved should contact GamesAid Trustee, Graeme Struthers.
26th
January
2012
GamesAid are pleased to announce that the 3rd annual SEGA GamesAid Challenge Cup will be staged again at Kew Green in London in May 2012, anyone interested in taking part should contact Graeme Struthers. Last year, 4 teams of gallant yet intrepid, white flannel clad games industry cricketers contested the trophy and raised £1920 for GamesAid. The SEGA All Stars, captained by John Clarke, Screaming Lord Hatch’s Invitation XI, aka The Media Luvvies captained by Alistair Hatch, Square Leg Nix captained by Ian Livingstone and The Strollers captained by Doron Garfunkel fought it out, with The Media Luvvies narrowly beating Square Leg Nix for the trophy. The day was beautifully recorded by Andi Ewington at Lick Creative who created an astonishing photographic record of the day and after months of sweat and tears, this photobook is now ready for the players to own at http://tinyurl.com/c5uytkv. GamesAid is very pleased to recommend specialist creative agency Lick Creative to all of its members they really are lovely people who know how to make things look great.
26th
January
2012
A big thanks to Nintendo who sent a van load of products (games, hardware etc) to GamesAid for selling on eBay. So far this generous donation has raised £2444 for GamesAid with lots more still to go. The GamesAid eBay account, which can be found here, raised £34,085 between January and October last year. If you have any spare, unused or unwanted games and merchandise then please donate it to GamesAid by sending it to Gary Winter/Craig McFadyen, GamesAid, C/O The Producers Ltd, 2 Stonehill, Stukeley Meadows, Huntingdon, PE29 6ED.
18th
January
2012
NCsoft superwoman Cat Channon is at it again for GamesAid. This summer she has set herself the incredible task of running her first ever marathon, cycling across Europe from gamescom to Brighton before heading strait to Gilbratar where she'll be swimming to North Africa. Yes that's right folks that's six countries, two continents, one bike and a whole lot of miles in less hours than 100 hours. It's going to be tough no doubt about it. There will be danger! French lorries, whizzing past as she speeds to the port in Dieppe, sharks, killer whales and rough waters in the deepest section of the Mediterranean. There will be drama! Last year her bike was lost over the channel and she spilt yoghurt all over her saddle as soon as she set out from Germany. So dig deep folks and support her by visiting her JustGiving Page as Cat doesn't intend to do this ever again. Cat is also looking for some company for her bike ride, so if you fancy cycling back from gamescom then contact her at cchannon@ncsoft.com.
12th
January
2012
We would like to say a big thank you to Sarah Seaby for her time and hard work as GamesAid Chair and Trustee. Sarah joined the trustees in August 2008 and has overseen GamesAid ’s massive successes over the past few years, including the record-breaking amount of money awarded last year. Meanwhile we would like to welcome Stuart Dinsey as the new Chair. Stuart is managing director and founder of Intent Media - publisher of 13 business websites, 10 magazines and a dozen associated trade events within entertainment, technology and leisure markets. Brands include MCV: The Market for Home Computing, Develop, Music Week, ToyNews and BikeBiz. Stuart commented on his appointment: "Having been in the games business for over 25 years, I know exactly how a lot of people feel about charity. In reality, they want to support it, it is a good thing, but fund-raising has to be done the right way, objectives must be clearly set out and there must be complete transparency and inclusiveness at all times. GamesAid fits the criteria above..., which is why I am happy to be chair, but I will be firmly in the background. The GamesAid stars are its fundraisers, Ambassadors and Members - people within the business trying to make a difference in whatever way they can. The Trustees are just here to encourage, help and control where required. All fund-raising ideas and suggestions are welcome. Please email trustees@gamesaid.org.”
23rd
December
2011
We would like to say a HUGE thanks to all our members, ambassadors and trustees for making this GamesAid's most successful year. Thanks to your amazing fund raising efforts we have managed to award £174,000 to our six elected charities this year, Action for Kids, Jigsaw4u, Lifelites, Volunteer Centre Sutton: MAPS, SpecialEffect and The Willow Foundation, with each charity receiving £29,000. This year saw almost 50 fund raising events with some of the highlights including the Gem Golf & Spa Day, Eurogamer Expo Party, Namco X Capcom Fight Club, MCV Awards Tenner, Develop Awards Tenner, Golden Joysticks, GamesAid Poker Tournament, Joel's Dialy Running, gamescom to Brighton Bike Ride, SEGA Cup Challenge, 2K5K and the GamesAid eBay account. Now is the time to sit back and relax, apart from Joel who is still running every day, so we can all come back next year revitalized and ready to raise even more money for GamesAid. If you have any fund raising ideas then please contact trustees@gamesaid.org.
22nd
December
2011
Jeff Tawney has sailed across the Atlantic with 3 friends - Mike Dunning, Nigel Dunning and Jan Burgess - in a small, leaky, bouncy boat called Geronimo. They left the Canaries on the 30th November and 20 days later after sailing 1,000 miles through Atlantic squalls, becoming becalmed, seening dolphins, flying fish and mysterious phosphorescent green plankton they arrived in Antigua on the 20th December. Jeff has so far raised £1,600 for GamesAid and donations are still welcome via the JustGiving Page. You can follow their progress at their blog here.
2nd
December
2011
GamesAid is thrilled to announce another successful fundraising year on eBay with a grand total of £34,085 raised so far this year.
Run by a crack team of do-gooders at The Producers, the bid savvy bunch take receipt of old merchandise, surplus stock, marketing materials, t-shirts, stickers, old consoles and other gaming goodies, place them on the auction site and turn them into hard cash making up a significant chunk of the £174,000 that GamesAid was able to award to its elected charities this year.
As on-going initiative this represents another opportunity for anyone in the industry to get involved with GamesAid, either on a personal or company level. Any items which are game related and suitable for resale can be sent to the address below and will be available for the wider public to purchase here.
With Christmas just around the corner, what better opportunity to clear out those back cupboards and help better someone else’s 2012.
A fantastic idea that continues as a result of the hard work of those involved, GamesAid would like to take this opportunity to thank those who manage the logistics at The Producers; Gary, Craig, Louise and Tammi and also the folks that supported particularly strongly this year; Natalie Guasden at Bethesda, Caroline Van Venrooij at Sega, Jonathan Weinberg, Hue, Kristan Reed, Francis Short at Namco Bandai, Adrian Curry and EA.
If you’d like to donate please send your items to the following address where they will be put up for auction: Gary Winter/Craig McFadyen GamesAid C/O The Producers Ltd 2 Stonehill Stukeley Meadows Huntingdon PE29 6ED
30th
November
2011
By registering for free at easyfundraising you can raise money for GamesAid by simply shopping at your favourite online retailer, such as Amazon, eBay or John Leiws. Once registered, you're ready to shop and raise money! Simply click on the retailer you want, then shop as you would normally. When you make a purchase the retailer will donate a percentage of your spend to GamesAid and you will receive an email telling you how much you've raised.
23rd
November
2011
Many thanks to a group of students at Bournemouth University who from 10:00am on the 11th November 2011 held a Zelda marathon to celebrate both the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda franchise and the release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. In the process they raised £1,312 for GamesAid! A thank you also to all those who sponsored them.
18th
November
2011
GamesAid is proud to announce that the Gem Golf & Spa Day 2011 raised a whopping £62,607.56 which is an increase of 19% on the 2010 event.
This is the single biggest fund raising event of the year for GamesAid and Chair Sarah Seaby commented 'GamesAid would like to thank the team at Gem and their Gold Sponsors, EA, MCV, Microsoft X360, Nintendo, THQ and Ubisoft - plus the Silver Sponsors Netgear & Nuance for an amazing event. In these testing times, to increase the amount raised for GamesAid is simply incredible and we very much look forward to next year's event'.
Event organiser Richard Stickler added, 'After an exceptional support from the industry, the hard work from the Gem Golf & Spa Day Team and the people at Gem we managed to smash last year's fund raising total by more than £10,000 - it's going to be hard to beat that in 2012 but I know the team consisting of Louise Powell from Nintendo alongside Keeley Munden and Emilie George from Gem will do everything we can to do make that happen!"
Next year's event is set to take place on the 12th July 2012 and will be held at The Grove, in Hertfordshire. Companies who are interested in sponsoring the event should contact Richard Stickler richard.stickler@thq.com and those who would like to book tickets for the day should contact Emilie George emilieg@gem.co.uk on +44 (0)1279 459060
To find out about next year’s Gem Golf & Spa Day follow: http://www.golfandspaday.com/
17th
November
2011
Accessible gaming charity, SpecialEffect, which has just received £29,000 from GamesAid, demonstrated the power of their work was when they set a Guinness world record for eye control gaming at the recent Eurogamer Expo. You can watch a short video of this here.
16th
November
2011
A big thank you to GamesAid Ambassador Emily Britt & her colleagues at 2K & Take Two who raised £4,960 through a 5K run around Windsor Great Park. This total included $2,000 generously donated by Take Two. A thank you also to all those who sponsored them.
9th
November
2011
Jeff Tawney shall be sailing across the Atlantic with 3 soon-to-be-ex-friends - Mike Dunning, Nigel Dunning and Jan Burgess - in a small, leaky, bouncy boat called Geronimo. They set sail from the Canaries on 1st December and if they head in the right direction they might arrive somewhere near their destination of Antigua about 3 weeks later. It's going to be hell so please sponsor him via his JustGiving Page. All money raised is going to GamesAid.
9th
November
2011
Samantha Whale, who was the UKs first professional salaried female gamer and is currently Marketing & Business Development Executive at Universally Speaking, will be running the British 10k London Run 2012, raising money for GamesAid in the process. To sponsor her please visit her JustGiving Page.
9th
November
2011
After the sell-out success of 2010's Christmas bake-a-thon, Cat Channon from NCsoft is back in the kitchen again. Once more she'll be baking a limited number of Christmas cakes, charging £50 a piece and donating all the proceeds to GamesAid. Choose from either the more traditional ‘suitable for the folks’ style or the more violent bloody MW3 style ‘snow scene of battleground carnage’. To order, email Cat your request and delivery address at cchannon@ncsoft.com and donate your £50 per cake via the JustGiving Page.
8th
November
2011
The NCsoft GamesAid Brighton marathon team are ready to rumble. Please show your support for Andy Payne, Gary Knight, David Corless, Cat Channon, Chole Gusti, Mark Ward, Graeme Struthers, Ryan Wiltshire, David Miller & Courtney Bradshaw. Many thanks to their kind sponsors at NCsoft. Please support them by sponsoring them via their JustGiving Page.
7th
November
2011
David Knox and David Walker have won the GamesAid Rugby World Cup sweepstake! They will be receiving a copy of the official Rugby World Cup 2011 video game courtesy of 505 Games and a RFU goody bag courtesy of the English RFU. Thank you to all the participants who helped raise a further £160 for GamesAid.
4th
November
2011
GamesAid is pleased to announce the six charities that received the most votes from you, our members, and will go on to receive a donation of £29,000 each. This represents a 74% increase in donations year on year.
The six charities announced at the UKIE 2011 AGM were; Action for Kids, Jigsaw4u, Lifelites, Volunteer Centre Sutton: MAPS, SpecialEffect, The Willow Foundation.
Action for Kids funds vital and life-changing equipment for disabled children all around the country. Lyn Prodger from Action for Kids said: “Thanks for voting for Action for Kids. Everyone here is thrilled to receive the support of GamesAid once again. We feel privileged to work with such a dynamic and committed group of people and send sincere thanks to the Trustees, Ambassadors and members for all the time and effort they put in to raising funds for smaller charities. This extremely generous donation will have a life-changing impact on disabled children and young people – we can’t wait to tell them and their families the news.”
Jigsaw4u exists to support children and young people through loss and trauma by working directly with them and empowering them to participate in decision-making about their own lives and the development of policy and practice locally, regionally and nationally. Pam Byfield, Head of Service for Jigsaw4u, added: “Jigsaw4u exists to work with children and young people as they experience loss and trauma and it means so much for Jigsaw4u to become a GamesAid Charitable Partner. This fantastic grant means we can work with more children affected by the death of a parent and we can support them and their family afterwards as well, as they try and rebuild their lives.”
Lifelites is an innovative and award winning charity using specialist technologies to brighten the lives of terminally ill and disabled children in children’s hospices. “Lifelites is delighted to be named as one of this year’s GamesAid charities,“ said Simone Enefer-Doy, Chief Executive of Lifelites, “This money will go towards the work we do providing the latest accessible technologies for the 7,000 disabled and terminally ill children who stay, play and learn in all 44 children’s hospice in the UK. For many of them, this means that for the first time ever they will be able to play games with their brothers and sisters and have some form of control over at least one aspect of their lives.”
Special Effect is a charity dedicated to helping ALL young people with disabilities to enjoy computer games by adapting, developing and modifying cutting edge technology. Dr Mick Donegan Founder and Director, SpecialEffect, said "SpecialEffect is the only UK charity dedicated to ensuring that everyone, no matter how severe their disability, can share the camaraderie, challenges and sheer joy that comes from playing computer games. The charity is facing rising demand for our face to face support and technical expertise that is transforming the lives of people with disabilities who wish to play games, from young disabled soldiers through to those recovering from a traumatic injury or illness at home or in hospital. GamesAid's generous financial support coupled with the enthusiasm of the members for our work is a real boost to everyone involved in the charity.”
Volunteer Centre Sutton: MAPS is a mentoring and peer support service for some of societies most vulnerable and marginalised children and young people from ages 5-19yrs. Adam Knuckey Chief Officer of Volunteer Centre Sutton:MAPS said: “GamesAid is a simply wonderful Charity. Having won the award previously, MAPS were even more hopeful of being voted in by members this time, having witnessed firsthand their commitment to seeing radical and transformative support for vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people. We will be using the award to offer specialist mentoring, targeting children in schools who are most likely to find themselves isolated, or those who struggle academically due to challenges that are outside of their control.”
The Willow Foundation is the only charity of its kind providing special days for seriously ill 16 to 40 year olds throughout the UK. Bob Wilson, co-founder of the Willow Foundation, added: “Without the generous donations from organisations such as GamesAid the Willow Foundation would not be able to meet the needs of the seriously ill 16-40 year-olds living with life-threatening illness it exists to serve. Thanks to GamesAid we will be able to make a positive impact on the lives of 20 more young men facing the challenges of coping with serious illness by providing life-enhancing special day experiences which will help to give them something positive to look forward to at what is such a difficult time for them and their families.”
Sarah Seaby, Chairman of GamesAid, concluded: “We are delighted to be donating to these six charities, all of whom do an extremely valuable job of helping children and young people in the UK. It’s also gratifying to see the amount of charities that are helped and the actual amount of money increasing year on year.”
1st
November
2011
In the eternal struggle for superiority, sometimes rivals must put their differences aside... Namco X Capcom are doing the unthinkable to bring you: The Industry GamesAid Fight Club Christmas Special on the 2nd December 2011 from 6pm until late at the Namco Station, London.
It’ll be the biggest celebration of the fighting game genre, ever. For once, it’s not about uniques or sales figures, the only unique you will need to talk about is your unique fighting style. For £15, of which all proceeds go to GamesAid, you’ll be able to prove to the rest of the industry that you’re the best at: Street Fighter X Tekken, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, Tekken 6, Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3, SoulCalibur V and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. They’ll be hosting a tournament for Street Fighter X Tekken and SoulCalibur V exhibition matches between industry rivals with prizes for those who are victorious.
On top of the gaming action, there’ll be: dodgems, bowling, pool, break-dancers, a DJ, karaoke and of course, a limited free bar to enjoy. To get your tickets and for more infomation visit the JustGiving Page.
29th
October
2011
The GamesAid Darts Night returns on Wednesday 23rd November and is being held at the Horseshoe in Clerkenwell London EC1 – the same venue as last time. Entrance costs just £20 – simply register your interest with David Walker at david.walker@live.co.uk
24th
October
2011
The Replay Expo Charity After-Show Party is being held on 5th November 2011 at the Hilton Hotel, North Promenade, Blackpool. There will be music provided by the awesome Nintendisco, discounted bar, raffle with amazing prizes, obligatory Pub Quiz, plus many other events where you can win limited edition and signed prizes! To grab a ticket, donate £10 via the party's JustGiving Page. Read more about the party here.
21st
October
2011
Students are hosting a Zelda Marathon to celebrate 25 years of Zelda as well as the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword release and are raising funds for GamesAid. The marathon will start at 10am on 11th November 2011. If all GamesAid members could donate just £1 it would make a real difference! - please do this via their JustGiving Page, thanks!
7th
October
2011
As GamesAid members, you are now able to vote for one of the charities that fellow members have nominated and trustees have cleared. Simply log into www.gamesaid.org, go into the members section and you will be able to see which charities you can vote for. The 5 charities with the most votes will each receive an equal share of the funds raised by GamesAid this year to a maximum of £20,000 per charity. Any excess funds will be distributed to the next highest voted for charities, to a maximum of £20,000 per charity. Last year the voting was incredibly tight and one charity lost out by one single vote! Remember, these charities need your vote. Please use it and don’t forget voting closes at 11:59:59 on Friday 21st of October. Voting is good for the soul.
30th
September
2011
A big thanks goes out to Eurogamer and sponsors OnLive, Bethesda and NCsoft for organising one of the best industry party’s of the year, last Friday 23rd at the Pembroke. A staggering £10,150 was raised for GamesAid through ticket sales and donations.
30th
September
2011
Midlife Gamer held their Eurogamer after party on Sat 24th at O'Neil's Pub and Grill in Earls Court, inviting the Midlife Gamer community, game publishers, developers and PR as well as game enthusiasts from all corners of the UK and beyond to enjoy a night of celebration, socialising and charity support. A stunning £2000 was raised for GamesAid - smashing through Midlife Gamer's target of £250! Big thank you from GameAid.
30th
September
2011
GamesAid can now be found on Youtube. Check out our latest video!
30th
September
2011
Partylan have teamed up with Ghost Hunt Events and Fort Horsted to bring an ultimate gaming event on October 21st (for over 18s only). With hourly FEAR Gaming Tournaments and Ghost Hunting, it promises to be a unique night to remember. If you would like to find out more or buy tickets, please go to the Partylan website, a percentage will go to GamesAid.
30th
September
2011
Well done to Cyclothon teams from SEGA and Nintendo that endured 8 or 12 hours of cycling around the iconic Brands Hatch circuit on 15th September. So far both teams have raised a total of £2840 for GamesAid.
20th
September
2011
Tickets to this years Eurogamer Expo Party are now sold out. Thank you to all of those who have bought tickets and we look forward to seeing you from 7pm this Friday at The Pembroke.
13th
September
2011
Another wonderful September day at Kew Cricket Club, Kew Green, London saw 4 teams of games industry cricketers play two limited overs matches each. The SEGA All Stars (captained by John Clark) lost ‘narrowly’ to Screaming Lord Hatch’s Invitation XI (aka the 'Media Luvvies' captained by Alistair Hatch from Bethesda Softworks) in the first game; and The Strollers (captained by Doron Garfunkel from OK Media) were pipped by Square Leg Nix (captained by Ian Livingstone) in game two. The Strollers went on to beat the SEGA All Stars for 3rd place and an exciting last ball winner struck by Nick Parker saw the Media Luvvies edge past Square Leg Nix to claim the trophy for the 2nd year. With players donating £50 to play this year's cup has raised £1,920 for GamesAid so far.
12th
September
2011
Dazz from VG Resource is intending to carry out a 24 hour retro game-a-thon with his friend Greg. They will be playing through as many retro videogames as they possibly can from start to finish for a straight 24 hours raising money GamesAid in the process. They'll be streaming the event live online, so you can see the action of the game, as well as what Dazz and Greg are up to during gameplay. You can sponsor them by heading over to their JustGiving page. To keep up to date with their plans head over to http://gameathon.spriters-resource.com/.
9th
September
2011
GamesAid Ambassador Chloe Giusti has organised a Rugby World Cup Sweepstake with entrance costing just £10 to put you in with a chance of winning yourself some official Rugby World Cup 2011 video games goodies courtesy of 505 Games!
Entry is simple - just donate your £10 via the JustGiving page and your name will be put into the hat of entrants. On 2nd October at the latest, they'll draw the sweepstake to determine which team you have and post the list onto the GamesAid website. There are 20 teams participating in the World Cup so we have space for 20 entrants, if enough entries are received then a second round sweepstake will also be run.
9th
September
2011
Joe Styrka from GamerFM will be carrying out a sponsored 12 hour live broadcast from epic.SEVEN running between the 20th and 23 October 2011. His broadcast will start at 4.00pm on Thursday 20th October and during the show there will be prize give-aways, interviews and Joe will be having his legs waxed which listeners will be able to view via GamerFM’s live webcam stream. Please support Joe by sponsoring him at his JustGiving page.
1st
September
2011
You have until midnight on the 2nd September to nominate one charity that you feel would be appropriate for GamesAid to support financially. GamesAid looks to support smaller UK based charities that focus on children and young adults. To nominate a charity login in to the members’ area to the right and then select Nominate your favourite charity.
1st
September
2011
Many thanks to David Noble for the donation of his winnings from a recent poker tournament.
1st
September
2011
GamesAid Ambassador Emily Britt & her colleagues at 2K & Take Two are going to run 5K around Windsor Great Park to raise money for GamesAid on September 15th 2011. Please show your support by sponsoring them here.
26th
August
2011
We would like to say a big thank you to Des Gayle, Cat Channon and Nathan Irvine who have recently raised money for GamesAid in two separate cycling trips. GamesAid Ambassador Des Gayle along with 2 of his mates cycled from London to Paris, a distance of 300 miles. Meanwhile GamesAid Ambassador, Cat Channon and Games Radar's Nathan Irvine cycled back from gamescom in Cologne, Germany to the NCsoft offices Brighton, England, a distance of just over 350 miles. You can still support them by sponsoring Des here and Cat and Nathan here.
22nd
August
2011
The Eurogamer Expo Party, sponsored by OnLive and NCsoft, returns again this year on Friday 23rd September from 7pm onwards at The Pembroke, 261 Old Brompton Road, Earls Court, London, SW5 9JA - just a five minute walk from the Earls Court Exhibition Centre where the Eurogamer Expo is taking place. This is the second year for this laid back drinks party where over 300 of the games industries finest go to drink, eat and dance to celebrate the Eurogamer Expo and raise money for charity. There will be food, free drinks and entertainment provided by DJ’s The Nextmen and A.Skillz. Tickets are priced at £50 with all proceeds going to GamesAid. Last year's event was a blast, raising over £5000 for GamesAid and this year's event promises to better still. Tickets for this years event are now sold out.
22nd
August
2011
Nintendo UK will be entering 2 teams in to the Cyclothon UK at Brands Hatch on the 15th September 2011. One team will take part in an 8 hour challenge (11:30 - 19:30), and the other team in the 12 hour challenge (07:30 - 19:30)! The teams are made up of Nintendo Employees, their agencies and contacts from retail partners. All money raised will go to GamesAid so please support them by sponsoring them at http://www.justgiving.com/Nintendo-Cyclothon-Team.
16th
August
2011
Joel Benton has been running each and every day since January 1st. Originally he just wanted to know how many days in a row he could run without a day off, presuming he’d get to about 25 days before either injury or other circumstances would put an end to it. As of August 16th he is at 228 days and counting which is absolutely fantastic, he runs at least 3 miles a day, sometimes more and he has recently started trying to do 30 a week. He is able to calculate since 4th May that he has run 414.88 miles and spent 61:54:28 doing it. Since June 2nd he has climbed 29,807ft (Everest is 29,002!) and burned 33,258 calories!
However, he is finding it increasingly difficult. He has done everything he can to vary the runs and the people he runs with but he’s finding it VERY difficult and it’s getting worse. The thought of winter fills him with dread. PLEASE help him maintain his motivation and sponsor him to get to January 1st 2011 at http://www.justgiving.com/Joel-Benton. It genuinely will help! Joel is donating all sponsorship raised to GamesAid.
10th
August
2011
The European Console League recently raised £725 for GamesAid at their event at Loughborough University on the 30th and 31st July. £1 from every team ticket sold was donated to GamesAid In addition as Loughborough University is more aimed at sports, they decided to hold a 4 a side charity football tournament with the winners getting tickets for EGL 4, they had 17 teams in total enter, raising GamesAid £340!
10th
August
2011
The guys at midlifegamer.net are meeting up on Sunday 24th Sept right after Eurogamer Expo for a few beers, a pub quiz & a charity raffle at pub nearby. Click the link to learn more - all welcome. The idea is that gamers bring a game or game related merchandise that they no longer want (must be in good condition) and this will be added to the raffle prize table. Tickets for the raffle will be on sale during Friday and Saturday with all proceeds going to GamesAid. If you are interested in attending or donating a prize then visit http://www.midlifegamer.net/forum/annoucements/eurogamer-expo-2011-official-midlife-gamer-meet-ups-details-here-you-coming/.
10th
August
2011
Dolph, the Founder & Editor-in-Chief of PS3 Attitude, a PlayStation 3 news website is running the UK hardest 10K run in November for GamesAid. He has just a few short months of training before he takes part in Men's Health Magazine's 'Survival of the Fittest', a 10 kilometre running race that has 10 crazy obstacles to overcome along the course! It is going to be tough, but with your donations pushing him on, we’re sure he can do it. He’s set himself a big goal here, so please be as generous as you can. Every little helps, so donate via http://www.justgiving.com/DolphGB10k. Details of his progress will be posted on Twitter, so follow him @DolphGB to find out how he’s getting on (hashtag: #Dolph10k).
10th
August
2011
Chalk your cues for the first ever GamesAid Pool Tournament on Thursday 1st September 2011. The tournament will take place from 7.00pm at Hurricane Rooms, Kings Cross, 368 Grays Inn Rd, London, WC1X 8BB.
The idea is for everyone to have a bit of fun, so experience or skill is definitely not a pre-requisite. We’ll begin with a small group system and then move on to a plate and a cup tournament, with first round losers going into the plate competition and first round winners going on to the cup tournament. Prizes will be provided to both the plate and the cup tournament winners. As with the darts competition we would kindly request players wear appropriate attire for the tournament. We’re looking forward to seeing some exciting waistcoat, shirt and bowtie combinations. Though Pool attire is not necessary to enter the competition, it would be great if players can join us in getting into the spirit of things.
If you would like to play cost of entry is only £20 per person, please make your donation to GamesAid in advance of the tournament at www.justgiving.com/rosemarie-dalton0 then email David Walker and Harry Cole at GamesAidPool@gmx.com to be kept up-to-date on the tournament details. Spectators are more than welcome to come along to cheer on the players. Please let David or Harry know that you would like to attend as a spectator and a small donation of £2 per person to GamesAid would be appreciated. Food and drinks will be available on the evening.
4th
August
2011
Media Molecule Action Man, John Beech, is planning a little sailboat trip around the UK. We say little, he’s actually going to be covering 2450 miles! His mission is to Kayak around the country in a bit of plastic shaped like a toy boat, with nothing but his ‘massive arms’, a paddle and a power kite to carry him the distance.
He will be setting off from Guildford town centre on August the 8th, outside the Media Molecule Studio where he works as a games designer, and kayaking through London to the sea. From there he will paddle like crazy in an anticlockwise direction around the UK before finally heading back down through London and finishing back in Guildford. This should take him about 2 months (the current world record for such an attempt) unless someone steals his kayak.
Why, do you ask, is he carrying out this crazy feat? Well that’s because “it seemed like a good idea” and he’ll be raising money for GamesAid!
So if you have read this and find it remotely amusing, horrifying, brave, insane or have pretty much had any emotional response then please sponsor him at http://www.justgiving.com/John-Beech-. You’ll also be able to track my whereabouts via the wonders of GPS at http://www.mediamolecule.com/john/.
3rd
August
2011
The Scots are not exactly known for cricket, aside from Mike Denness of course, but that all changed last year when GamesAid Ambassador Graeme Struthers teamed up with John Clark’s boys at Sega to launch the Sega Challenge Cup. On Wednesday September the 7th at Kew Green, the great and the not so good will assemble again to take part in the Sega Challenge Cup - the question is will any of the challengers be good enough to beat last year’s champions?
Four teams are taking part with Alistair Hatch and Doron Garfunkel once again captaining the "All Star" teams whilst Ian Livingstone and John Clarke will be responsible for the mighty Square-Enix and Sega teams.
You can sign up to play for £50 by donating at http://www.justgiving.com/Graeme-Struthers or contacting Graeme at graeme.struthers@getgamesgo.com.
3rd
August
2011
Part time Wonder Woman and GamesAid Ambassador, Cat Channon and Games Radar’s very own Chris Hoy, Nathan Irvine, are going to cycle back from gamescom in Cologne, Germany to the NCsoft offices at Mocatta House in Brighton, England. Yep, that's just over 350 miles, after the biggest trade show in Europe, and they're aiming to do it in 3 days! Cat bought her bike just 2 weeks ago which gives her four weekends during which to train, while Nathan agreed to go last week so he's got just three. Chris Hoy, the British Olympic cycling champ rekons you can ride up to 8 hours a day if you're in top physical form, which after 5 days at the games industy's biggest trade show they fully intend to be. To be honest three days is hard enough for the most well practiced cyclists and for Cat and Nathan it's going to be almost impossible but it's all in an amazingly good cause.
They're covering their costs so every penny will go to charity. They're looking for individual donations as well as a couple of corporate sponsors too, so please give generously. All donations are very much welcomed and you can do this easily at http://www.justgiving.com/Catherine-Channon.
3rd
August
2011
Mark Ward, Andy Eades, the team at Relentless and all 70 players who took part in the poker tournament down in Brighton at Develop. First place was taken by Richard Sturgess from Universally Speaking, second place by Owen Hill from Future Publishing and third place by Christian Reshoeft from Miniclip. The event raised £4,300 for GamesAid which is amazing.
Intent Media and all the lovely attendees at Develop Awards Dinner who raised £2,537.50 (including the GiftAid piece) for GamesAid. Another amazing effort from the development community, well done them!
3rd
August
2011
GamesAid Ambassador Des Gayle along with 2 of his mates are cycling from London to Paris on August 18th – that is over 300 miles on a bike! Please help Des reach his target by heading over to http://www.justgiving.com/3guys-3bikes-1boat and donating any amount you can.
29th
May
2011
We just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to the following individuals & companies who have been raising money for GamesAid this year
In no particular order :
Frugal Gaming
Mobile Pie Runners - 10k run
Sticktwiddlers.com - gaming marathon
Ryan Warland & Sam Russell - Edinburgh marathon
Liz Martin, Ichi Design - 10k run
Kelly Sumner
David Walker - darts night
Rich Keith @ The GamesTribe/EA - footie match at Swindon Town FC
Graeme Struthers - veterans football match in Paddington
MCV Awards & The GamesAid Tenner
Relentless Software - Brighton marathon
Ian Livingstone/Neon
Ladies spa day
Steve Key, Hijack Promotions - Grand National sweepstakes & Cheltenham racing tipping competition
If you have any ideas for fundraising please do let us know,
The GamesAid team
24th
May
2011
Josh Hardman is playing Fifa 11 online for 24 hours commencing 10am June 11th 2011
He is after sponsorship and people to play with/against him. - Simply add his Xbox Live gamertag (J0shUK) and send him a message on or before the day
You can sponor Josh on
http://www.justgiving.com/joshhardmanGood luck Josh from all of us here at GamesAid
18th
May
2011
Liz doesn't run. , in fact up until recently she wouldn't even run to the off license when it was about to shut.
She knows 10K is not really that far for a lot of people like those who run marathons, climb Everest, open jars of pickled onions, etc but it's a really BIG deal for her and who knows, it could be the start of something amazing, she could be the next Paula Radcliffe breaking records and stopping for a quick wizz on the side of the road
Let's give the lovely Liz our moral and financial support ..
http://www.justgiving.com/liz-is-runningAll the best Liz - 10K is LONG way and don't try it in heels.
The GamesAid team
17th
May
2011
Ryan Warland & Adam Russell are running the Edinburgh marathon in aid of GamesAid this Sunday 22nd May 2010.
They are both Games Computing graduates from the University of Lincoln and Adam is currently working within the industry.
Please show your support.
http://www.justgiving.com/Adam-Ryan
17th
May
2011
Once in a lifetime opportunity to play football at a League One football ground and raise money for Charity
GamesAid is happy to announce a fundraiser giving people an opportunity to play football at the home of league one team, Swindon Town FC.
EA and The Games Tribe have reserved the pitch and officials for a full game from 1pm onwards on Friday May 20th. Places on the team are just £25, which allows you to play football with other games industry members on a proper Football League pitch with kits, a ref and changing rooms. And even have a drink in the bar afterwards!.
Spaces are on a strictly first come, first play basis and if you don’t think you can last a full 90 minutes you can split the fee with someone else and share the game with them .
Head over to the Just Giving page http://www.justgiving.com/richkeith to pay your money then let Rich Keith (rich@thegamestribe.com) know your details and preferred position.
16th
May
2011
The Strollers 3 vs Diss Utd 2
Paddington London 12th May 2011 - assorted veterans of the games industry assembled, for the GamesAid, sponsored by Rising Star Games, over 40's football match, some wondering if their aged bodies would stand the test. Others just tried to remember what their best position ever was and a few wondering how close the nearest pub was.
The Strollers were captained by Martin DeFries of Rising Star Games and Diss United were captained by Terry Haynes of Hotgen.The whistle parped as Peter Sleeman got the game under way. Ian Hollamby and Karl Johns took up the center forward positions for the Strollers. Like a couple of wasps at a picnic, the never gave the Diss defense a moments rest. If not with their running, then with Ian’s moaning.
Spencer Crossley rolled back the years and soon displayed a full range of passing and oily tricks, grabbing balls, pulling shirts and disrupting the Diss midfield, whilst Si Jeffrey with his new bionic knee passed the ball with metronomic precision, overwhelming Kelly Sumner as Tres, Dave Roberts and then Chalmers-Stevens owned the left hand side of the pitch. As each team tested each other out, Diss went for a more static approach with Darryl Still in a classic Jan Molby body, pinging through balls, splitting the defense but sadly bemusing the strikers.
The Strollers knowledge of each other’s names was starting to tell as they strung passes together. Lee did his best to keep Karl and Hollamby at arm’s length, with Sumner and Nathan showing them the outside when they came near the penalty box. Meanwhile Dave and Gerry Tucker started getting around the Strollers box, but anytime they got beyond the (far too good) Nick Howard and Ciaran Brennan partnership, Paul Mitchell in nets was the equal to everything that came his way. Rolling subs came into effect and the Strollers played their joker, Martin Defries entered the fray, spraying passes around that were more luxuriant than his hair and it was only a matter of time before Hollamby was released and then Karl having had a couple of sighters used the cross bar to shift Terry Haines out of the way before slotting home to make it 1-0.
The Strollers then swarmed all over Diss, passing broke out with Roberts, Chris McCole and Chalmers-Smith and Matt Woodley linking with the rock of Crossley with DeFries adding his embellishments from time to time. Mr Payne appeared on the left having flashed the local playground whist getting undressed/dressed on the sidelines. As the half time whistle blew, Hollamby finally drew breath from his whinging and the teams paused. Diss United used the break to learn names and positions and confidently faced the second half with the wind blowing at their backs. From the kick off young Loman showed the way toward goal jinking through, linking with Dave, who dragged wide, Diss looked a different proposition as the Rocksteady boys put a marker down. Problem was (the far to good) Howard, had the answer to everything chucked his way while the Stroller’s used the counter-attack with McCole linking with Moan A Lot and Karl.
Diss shifted Olly McGowan over to close that channel off, Gerry re-appeared from his break and took up station in centre Mid and Nick Blower with a second wind added width. Surely Diss would get their reward. Another counter-attack and Hollamby rounded the keeper to surely net the second. He rifled a shot into the only thing that would have seemed larger than the goal, Mr Struthers's stomach and even as the ball left his foot he turned to the ref and screamed “hand ball!”.
The Strollers in a sign of growing confidence changed Mitch for Defries in nets and as Mitch gamboled up front, Diss got at them with young Loman everywhere at once. Dave got the ball, twisted the blood of some Strollers netted. 1-1 But in every game a defining moment comes, the Strollers launched another attack, a cross came into the box and Olly leapt like a young salmon to head clear the ball arched out of the box to just inside the Diss half to be met on the volley and arrowed into the top right hand corner of the net. A moment of such skill only surpassed by the surprise it was for the foot of Crossley. Whoooooaahhhhh!!”.
2-1 down it was time for change. Tel took off his gloves, Struthers got stuck between the posts, Rupert added several more positions to his CV and Little Rich took on the last line of defense and the first line of attack in a blur of beard and gingerness. Tucker had his range with Sefton getting forward in support. With Crossley still in a trance after the goal of his career and Si shifted to right back, the Diss boys started getting on top in midfield. 2-1 still seemed like it could be overcome, but no, no, no, no! From a corner kick Hollamby cut across the defense and slotted like a pro. It hurt. More than words can express.
Now it was all in for Diss as Hollamby went off. Lee went up front, Rupert, Jerry, Dave, Kelly, Tel, all went forward in waves. Dave teased, Tel beguiled and Lee bullied and finally Dave (offside by a mile ™ MDF) hit the back of the net. Could Diss find a third? Well yes, we had, but the Ref saw something he described as a push. But surely Ref, based on that logic, Spencer would have been red carded in the 10th minute… with the clock ticking down Defries made a Hollywood save, pausing mid air to adjust his hair when Tel, really should have netted. The final whistle came. The Strollers had earned an epic victory and given Spencer a story that by 8.30 had him netting from 45 yards. And GamesAid were £845 to the good! A win win for everyone
9th
April
2011
David Wilson and Stuart Dinsey both win a 3DS!courtesy of Ballabriggs. Congratulations!!!
8th
April
2011
The horses for the 2nd Grand National sweep have been drawn so one of these lucky people will win a 3DS!
1. Aaron Ludlow – The Midnight Club 2. Alex Cook – Quinz 3. Andy Lamb – Santa’s Son 4. Caroline Miller – Big Fella Thanks 5. Chloe Giusti – The Tother One 6. Chris East – State of Play 7. Dave Allanson – Character Building 8. David Walker – Killyglen 9. David Wilson – Ballabriggs 10. Dermot Stapleton – Comply Or Die 11. Doron Garfunkel – Oscar Time 12. Frazer Locke – Vic Venturi 13. Gareth Evans – Majestic Concorde 14. Garry Williams – Surface To Air 15. Giles Armstrong – Arbor Supreme 16. Harry Cole – Golden Kite 17. Jacob Barker – Or Noir De Somoza 18. James Parker - Becauseicouldntsee 19. Jamie Firth – Skippers Brig 20. Kirsty Payne – Royal Rosa 21. Lee Clare – Tidal Bay 22. Luke G – Calgary Bay 23. Lynda Biggs – Ornais 24. Mark Dickens – Bluesea Cracker 25. Michael Rotchell – In Compliance 26. Nadia Lawlor – Hello Bud 27. Natalie Gausden – Quolibet 28. Neal Jhalla – Chief Dan George 29. Neil Ralley – That’s Rhythm 30. Nicholas Heller – West End Rocker 31. Olly McGowan – Silver By Nature 32. Paul Beevis – Dooney’s Gate 33. Richard Adinolfi - Backstage 34. Richard Jones – Niche Market 35. Stephen Grubb – What A Friend 36. Steve Key – Don’t Push It 37. Tim Browne – Can’t Buy Time 38. Tim Doubleday – King Fontaine 39. Trevor Munro – Piraya 40. William Chan – Grand Slam Hero
8th
April
2011
The horses for the 1st Grand National sweep have been drawn so one of these people will win a 3DS!
1. Alice Carlisle – Santa’s Son 2. Andy Cole – The Tother One 3. Andy Nutall – Don’t Push It 4. Andy Payne – Or Noir De Somoza 5. Ben Cameron – Quolibet 6. Benjamin Nelson – Royal Rosa 7. Chris Savage – Grand Slam Hero 8. Chris Thomas – Ornais 9. Craig McFayden – Calgary Bay 10. Dan Webb – Majestic Concorde 11. David Knox – Tidal Bay 12. David Miller – Dooney’s Gate 13. Dean Barrett - Backstage 14. Debbie Timmins – What A Friend 15. Emily Britt – Oscar Time 16. Gareth Phillips – Hello Bud 17. Gary Winter – That’s Rhythm 18. Glen Elliott – Skippers Brig 19. Gordon Sinclair – West End Rocker 20. Ian Goodall – Character Building 21. Ian Livingstone – Chief Dan George 22. James Coad – State of Play 23. Johanna Hakala – Surface To Air 24. Kelly Sumner – Killyglen 25. Liz Martin – King Fontaine 26. Louise Fisher – Can’t Buy Time 27. Matt Eyre – Big Fella Thanks 28. Matt O’Driscoll - Quinz 29. Mike Fethers – The Midnight Club 30. Noel Krohn – In Compliance 31. Paul Millar – Bluesea Cracker 32. Richard Churchill – Niche Market 33. Richard Howard – Becauseicouldntsee 34. Rosemarie Dalton – Silver By Nature 35. Samantha Key – Vic Venturi 36. Simon Cowley – Golden Kite 37. Steve Key – Arbor Supreme 38. Steven Crisp – Comply Or Die 39. Stuart Dinsey - Ballabriggs 40. Vanessa Richardson – Piraya
4th
April
2011
GRAND COMPETITION FOR A NATIONAL TREASURE – GAMESAID SWEEPSTAKE TIME!
After the success of the Cheltenham Festival Tipping Competition which raised a whacking £250 for GamesAid, Ambassador Steve Key is running a Grand National Sweepstake.
The unique nature of the race and the fact that every runner has a chance of winning means the Grand National is the perfect opportunity to run a GamesAid sweepstake. For just £10 each player will be allocated a runner from the final field of 40 due to be announced on Friday 8th April. Then they can sit back and watch in the hope that their runner survives the gruelling test of four miles and four furlongs in the toughest challenge known to both horse and jockey. If you’re the lucky winner – we have the hottest gaming console right now, a Nintendo 3DS as our winner-takes-all first prize, which has been donated by a GamesAid member at no cost to GamesAid. Yep, that’s right a 3DS console for a tenner!
We will publish the final list of 40 entrants and their horses on the GamesAid website on Friday afternoon, 8th April. To enter, simply go to dedicated Justgiving page http://www.justgiving.com/grandnational and donate your £10 and that’s it! Steve will allocate these according to the order you end up being on the Just Giving page – ie 1st in is 1 and so on.
Enjoy the race, come 4.30 on Saturday 9th April some lucky person will have won a 3DS!
24th
March
2011
Props to the lovely people at StickTwiddlers (www.sticktwiddlers.com ) who are aiming to break 4 World, yes 4 records for marathon gaming on March 25th. All money goes to GamesAid so if you can sponsor these lovely people, please spare a penny or two at www.justgiving.com/sticktwiddlersworldrecord/
The event and GamesAid have been featured in The Daily Record newspaper and a full page spread was in the Edinburgh Evening News this past week. They also have another feature in The Daily Record tomorrow. You can follow them on Twitter @sticktwiddlers
16th
March
2011
The People of Japan NEED everyone’s help!
Like so many people, we have been overwhelmed with the images from Japan of the devastation that has descended on the people there since Friday. Each hour reveals images of complete and utter destruction, but also of the willingness and incredible determination of people to help each other. For many of us working within the games industry, Japan holds a special place in our affections – many of us have friends living and working there, some of us work for Japanese companies but beyond that, the heartbeat of our industry has so often been the creativity and innovation associated with that amazing country.
We wanted to find a way to help and we thought the best way to do this was to offer a way in which the UK games industry could come together to channel personal donations from the UK games Industry into the British Red Cross specifically for the Japanese Tsunami Appeal. We believe this way is the fastest and most efficient way for all of us to get money to those that can use it and help the people of Japan now.
If you would like to make a donation, please visit the online donation page at http://www.redcross.org.uk/Donate%20Now?single=1
11th
March
2011
An amazing night all round saw Ben Nelson and Stephen Morrison of Beautiful Game Studios beat Ned Browning and Matt O'Driscoll in the final
Over 50 players in the wonderful London EC1 setting of The Horseshoe enjoyed a night of beer and darts all for GamesAid. Supremo organiser David Walker, ably backed up by DJ come smiley man, Grim Struthers, are still counting the final amount raised, but we expect it to be over £700!
If you played on the night and forgot to pay, please tick the honesty box and visit www.justgiving.com/Graeme-Shearer0.
Meanwhile pictures on the night can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/30215302@N04/sets/72157626239687106/
9th
March
2011
Bristol, UK, 9th March 2011 – Will Luton and Daniel Twomey of the award winning studio Mobile Pie (developers of B-Boy Beats and My Star) today announced they would participate in the 2011 Bristol 10K in support of GamesAid.
“We’re delighted to have the opportunity to raise money and awareness for what is an extremely important cause. It’s going to be an arduous and grueling ten kilometers with training starting today, so hope people give very generously,” said Luton.
A Just Giving page has been set up at http://www.justgiving.com/mobilepierunners which allows people to quickly and easily sponsor the pair, with 100% of donations going straight to GamesAid.
We at GamesAid love this sort of initiative we have always strived to be inclusive and applaud all those members who give their time to raise money for the good causes that members’ vote for. Will and Dan are taking on the Bristol 10k in May in the name of GamesAid and need all the support the video games industry can muster. Please support them, it is a bold and brave thing that they do!
The run, organised by Bristol City Council, will take place on Sunday 15 May 2011 and loops around some Bristol’s most delightful scenery.
2011 Bristol 10K: http://www.runbristol.com/10K/5/Home.aspx
7th
March
2011
GamesAid has announced newest fundraising initiative around the forthcoming horse racing event, The Cheltenham Festival.
The Festival features four days of top class jump racing and hundreds of equine stars at the peak of their talents for what is the showpiece event for National Hunt racing. GamesAid has launched a tipping competition where the racing pundits and fans within the games industry will have the chance to put their skills on the line and win a Nintendo 3DS in the process.
Kindly donated by our friends at Konami, the 3DS comes with a copy of PES 2011 3DS, the latest version of the PES franchise and the first in 3D! In addition to that, our equally lovely pals at Nintendo have also donated three further launch titles, Super Street Fighter IV, Pilotwings Resort and Nintendogs.
Winning this prize couldn’t be easier. Wannabe tipsters need to pick twelve horses from a pre-selected list of entrants scheduled to run at the Festival from March 15th to March 18th. Depending on how the horse runs, they will either score or lose points for players and the highest total takes the first prize.
For more information, simply head to http://gamesaidtipping.wordpress.com for the full lowdown on how to enter, the horses and where to donate your entry fee.
2nd
March
2011
Sharpen your ‘arras for the first ever GamesAid Darts Evening on Wednesday 9th March. Starting from 6.30pm at The Horseshoe, 24 Clerkenwell Close, London, EC1R 0AG
The idea is for everyone to have a bit of fun, so experience or skill is definitely not a pre-requisite. It will be a doubles competition so the not-so-confident players can team up with those who claim to know their 180’s from their Shanghais. The first stages will be on a round robin format so that everyone gets good go and is not limited to just one game each.
Come in appropriate darting attire, so the more ill-fitting polyester the better. The one thing that will be compulsory is walk on music, so start thinking about what tune you’ll want to make your entrance to and bring it along on the evening on your ipod ready to be played through the sound system at the pub.
Please email David Walker at david.walker@live.co.uk. You can either enter as a pair, or if you don't yet have anyone to play with, we will make up pairs from the single entrants. What we ask is that if you enter as a pair, please ensure that one of you is a not-so-confident player so that everyone has a fair chance of winning.
The cost for the chance of darting immortality is only £20 per person
You can donate here www.justgiving.com/Graeme-Shearer0
15th
November
2010
9th
November
2010
We received this amazing letter from one of the charities you have chosen to support this year, Action for Kids
Action For Kids funds vital high-tech and custom-built mobility equipment, not available on the NHS, for disabled children and young people all around the UK.
Last year’s very generous donation from GamesAid provided life-changing items for 8 children, like Logan. These children all have different conditions and different life stories, but what they do have in common is a need for independence. Whether going to school, getting out to play with their friends or socialising with their peers, the wheelchairs, trikes and buggies that GamesAid purchased had an immediate impact on the health, wellbeing and independence of some fantastic and inspirational children and their families.
We’d like to say an enormous thank you on behalf of all of last year’s beneficiaries. Five-year old Logan has Cerebral Palsy and he received a special push-chair from GamesAid and his mum asked us to convey her thanks:
“Thank you very much for the pushchair you gave my sons. Logan is very happy with it as he can now interact with his younger brother. He was unable to do this before as a part of his cerebral palsy means his left eye does not function correctly and this caused him to strain whilst attempting to look around. The old pushchair was not fit for purpose and it was too small in all dimensions; we had to squeeze him in and the rain cover actually had to sit on his head. He’s much happier now as he has lots of room this has made so many of life little jobs so much easier as just going down to the local shops in the rain was a nightmare before, we think he should be able to use this for at least the next four years.
This just leaves me to offer my sincere gratitude again, this simple gesture has really improved our day to day lives.
Kindest regards
Catherine
I hope that everyone in the Games Industry is aware of the difference they make. We are so excited to be working with GamesAid again this year and the massive increase in their donation in these difficult times will have an even bigger impact. You cant put a price on independence and we cant wait to tell even more families that Action For Kids and GamesAid can help!
30th
October
2010
The good news is we are having a GamesAid Members Christmas party which will be in London on Thursday December 9th, starting at 7pm. The location is just being finalised but we will only have 50 tickets which will be on a first come first served basis. Full details will be out next week, so keep your eyes peeled.
22nd
October
2010
We have passed 500 members, hurrah!!
22nd
October
2010
The result of your votes for the charities you want to support this year have been counted and we can now announce the 5 charities that were successful so here goes, in no particular order!
Each of the 5 charities will receive £20,000 each from GamesAid which is a whopping 76% rise from last year’s awards. As usual we will keep in touch with each of the charities and will ensure we bring you news of the great work that your money will help get done in the coming year.
The voting was really close and 1 vote made the difference between success and failure for one of the charities, which goes to show that all your votes count. Just over 28% of you cast your votes this year which is up from last year, but more of you could and perhaps should vote.
We got some kind words from each of the charities, which may brighten up a drab Friday morning in October.
Lyn Prodger from Action for Kids, a charity that works with children and young people with physical and learning disabilities, said: “We are really excited to be working with GamesAid again this year and would like to thank everyone for their support in terms of funds donated, time spent and the events and activities they organize. The GamesAid grant will make a real difference to the lives of some fantastic and inspirational children and young people”.
Nadja Singh, Director of Fundraising at Families Need Fathers, added: "The donation from GamesAid could not come at a better time for Families Need Fathers. We, as is the case for many charities, await the outcome of the government spending review with apprehension, and anticipate a drastic cut in the services we will be able to deliver. The money from GamesAid, therefore, will ensure that whatever the outcome, parents at the height of their most desperate crisis, when they fear they may never see their children again, will be able to get through to our telephone helpline and be supported in finding a child-centred way forward”.
Bob Wilson, founder of the Willow Foundation, said: “This year the Willow Foundation aims to provide almost 1,400 special days and this generous donation from GamesAid is invaluable to help us achieve this target. Thanks to GamesAid we will be able to make a positive impact, not only on the lives of the young people we help with this funding, but to their loved ones too”.
Adam Knuckey, Manager at MAPS, a mentoring service for vulnerable and marginalised children, added: “MAPS are very excited about the prospect of putting this donation to work, allowing many vulnerable children to have access to specialist mentors, fun activities and key resources to help them develop and achieve more. The award demonstrates the excellence of our committed volunteer mentors who offer time week in, week out to transform lives for the better. We are very proud to be associated with GamesAid and the positive work they are engaged in”.
Dr Mick Donegan Director, SpecialEffect, said "The SpecialEffect charity is dedicated to ensuring that everyone, no matter how severe their disability, can share the camaraderie, challenges and sheer enjoyment that comes from playing computer games. From the word go, no organisation could have supported the charity more enthusiastically that GamesAid. This fantastic donation will enable us to transform the quality of life for some of the most disabled and needy children in the country, whether they are in hospital, at a hospice or recovering from a traumatic injury or illness at home. With GamesAid’s generous support, we're taking huge strides in making it GameOn for everyone!"
So a massive thank you to all of you, the members of GamesAid let’s keep this momentum building.
16th
October
2010
The annual vote has now closed for another year and we have had a record number of votes cast, thanks to you the members. We will be announcing the 5 winning charities next Friday 22nd October.
Don't forget to tell your friends and colleagues about GamesAid, it is your charity for our industry and we can only continue to make a difference if everyone plays their part!
13th
October
2010
Gilo Armstrong is a GamesAid Ambassador who also works at Relentless Software. This brave man has started his preparation for the Brighton Marathon next spring. You can sponsor Gilo at http://www.justgiving.com/the-gilo-marathon-challenge and all proceeds will be going to GamesAid - hurrah!!
13th
October
2010
Don’t forget, the voting is now officially open. You all get one vote for the charity of your choice from the eight charities that got through the due diligence process. All you do is log into the members’ part of this site and you will be able to see which charities are up for an award and the rest is down to you!
We close the vote this Friday 15th of October and the top five charities will each receive an equal amount of the money we have raised this year, which will make a difference to each and every one of them. We will be announcing the result of the vote on Friday 22nd October.
8th
October
2010
A massive thanks to the boys from Dundee who completed the Loch Ness Marathon last weekend. Comprised of ex-Realtime Worlds employees, Colin Macdonald, Hugh Malan, Andy Elder, Paul MacGillvray, and Rory Kelly (from Dundee company Waracle), the lads were keen to prove their dedication to Dundee's games industry by taking on a marathon that undulates over the hills of the south banks of Loch Ness and they did it for GamesAid! The games industry in Dundee is alive and kicking. The team can still be sponsored at http://www.justgiving.com/ScottishGamesLochNessMarathon2010
5th
October
2010
Props go to the team at Relentless Software who organised a Bake-Off a couple of weeks back, raising £226.56 for GamesAid, rumour was the cup cakes were of Peyton & Byrne standard!
4th
October
2010
The voting is now officially open. All members get one vote for the charity of your choice from the eight charities that got through the due diligence process. All you do is log into the members’ part of this site and you will be able to see which charities are up for an award and the rest is down to you! If you are not a member of GamesAid and are in the UK games industry, feel free to join up now!
We close the vote on Friday 15th of October and the top five charities will each receive an equal amount of the money we have raised this year, which will make a difference to each and every one of them. We will be announcing the result of the vote on Friday 22nd October.
7th
September
2010
There's going to be a big games industry party at this year's Eurogamer Expo!
It's taking place at the end of the first day of the show (Friday 1st October), just around the corner from Earls Court. Top DJs Krafty Kuts and A-Skillz will be spinning the tunes on the night, and the ticket price includes free drinks and food.
Tickets are £50+VAT and all profits from the night will be donated to GamesAid. Contact Rupert Loman to buy tickets for you and your colleagues now!
7th
September
2010
Tomorrow sees the inaugural GamesAid Cricket Challenge Cup hosted by the lovely people at SEGA at Kew Green in London.
The competition comprises of four teams competing in 10/10 matches and is on track to raise over £2,200 for GamesAid
We have the SEGA All-Stars, captained by John Clark. Square Enix captained by Ian Livingstone. The Outcasts an assembly of industry personalities captained by Doron Garfunkel and Screaming Lord Hatch’s Invitational XI captained by Alistair Hatch and compromising of various industry PR’s and journalists. All players have donated £50 for a chance to play and all proceeds go towards GamesAid.
If you would like to sponsor the players or teams you can do that online by simply going to www.justgiving.com/Graeme-Shearer.
20th
July
2010
Joystick Junkies, the British fashion label, are celebrating their 10th birthday in style at the stunning Home House on Portman Square in aid of children’s charity DEBRA and GAMESAID
Thursday 22nd July Home House,21 Portman Square, London. W1H 6LW 7pm-3am
Expect two floors of our legendary party antics and a summer soundtrack to remember.
With Disco Funk & House from - Carlone - Katya - Robin Burrowes & special guests!
Play Room with - LOST Junkies Photobooth - The Joystick Junkies Girls Xbox 360 challenge - Joystick Junkies Twister! (fresh from Los Angeles!)
Plus - International Magician Kasrani - Ian Livingstone’s Pocket Aces Poker Tournament for GamesAid - Joystick Junkies fashion show
Dress Code – cool and relaxed, but the more outrageous the better!
It all kicks off at 7pm and for those who get there early we've got a free cocktail before 8pm.
Tickets: As this is a charity event we’ll be asking for a donation (anything helps) at the door or you can donate £10 per ticket online through Justgiving.com to receive a free cocktail and limited edition 10th anniversary Joystick Junkies pendant on the night.
You can decide who your ticket money goes to...
To buy a ticket in aid of GamesAid www.justgiving.com/joystickjunkiesgamesaid
To buy a ticket in aid of Debra www.justgiving.com/joystickjunkies
100% of proceeds from tickets and cash donations on the night go to charity, cash on the night will be split equally between both charities. Please be flash with your cash on the night, we’ll make sure you laugh when you remember how you spent it!
If you have any questions, please call us 0207 724 9243 or email chris@joystickjunkies.com
20th
July
2010
We are proud to confirm GamesAid has raised £3,500 from the third annual charity poker tournament, held at the Develop Conference in Brighton. Sponsored and brilliantly organised by Relentless Software and GamesAid Ambassador, Mark Ward from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. This year’s tournament took place on the evening of Tuesday 13th July at the Grosvenor Casino in Brighton, and was attended by more than 60 members of the games industry. The winners were as follows: first place went to Glenn Broadway from Metismo, second place to Lee Hutchinson from Double Eleven, third place to Simon Barratt from Four Door Lemon, fourth place to Dan Marchant from Obscure Consultancy, and fifth place to Miles Jacobson from Sports Interactive.
We are extremely grateful to the sponsors for organising this event every year. It’s really has become a major highlight in the GamesAid fund rising calendar
8th
July
2010
The fifth GamesAid Charity Poker Tournament will take place from 8pm on the evening of Tuesday 13th July 2010 at The Grosvenor Casino, Brighton Seafront.
The game is Texas Hold 'Em No Limit with a £50 buy-in. Cash re-buys and add-ons will also be available on the night and a number of exciting prizes can be won, including £400 for first place, £200 for second place , £100 for third place, Blu-ray and DVD films for fourth place and tickets for a Liverpool FC Stadium tour for fourth place.
TO TAKE PART KINDLY REGISTER YOUR £50 BUY-IN ON THIS JUSTGIVING PAGE TODAY!
Many thanks to our friends at Relentless Software and Eurogamer for their help in making this year's tournament happen and to you for your continued support of GamesAid.
Best of luck on the night!
7th
July
2010
It has been a while since our last newsletter, and since then we have seen England leave the World Cup, Nadal win Wimbledon, the industry seeing a bigger and successful E3 and, GamesAid members and Ambassadors raising lots of money to disburse to charities of your choice.
This year's charity nominations opens on July 19th and can be done by logging on to www.gamesaid.org, and following the instructions. For our new members, and as a reminder of what is required in order to submit a charity, can I please ask you read the following details, and action accordingly.
"GamesAid looks to support UK based smaller charities focussed on children and young adults who can let you, the members, know what the money raised is going to be spent on, and that maximise the amount of money spent on the cause that they are set up for.
With that in mind, we've come up with some simple due diligence guides to help you when nominating a charity.
1) The charity should have a turnover of no more than £5m annually
2) The charity should be spending at most 30% of their turnover on administration costs. This can be worked out by taking the % of income that is spent on charitable activities.
Please note that we are aware that for some smaller and newer charities, their cost % may be higher, and in these cases the trustees will perform extra due diligence to see if the charity nominated can still be put through to the voting stage.
The figures for the charity you are going to nominate can be found at http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/"
5th
June
2010
Here's a lovely article from our friends at PS3 Attitude about one of the charities supported last year - Special Effect. Really good article and worth a read
http://www.ps3attitude.com/new/2010/04/specialeffect-charity-gaming/
4th
June
2010
We are delighted to announce the 3rd Annual Golf & Spa Day fundraiser, organised by Gem Distribution, was an overwhelming success.
Representatives from publishing, retail, and development gathered together with last year’s chosen charities at The Grove in Watford in a sell-out event raising over £50,000.
The event, sponsored by Gem, Logitech, The Hut Group, THQ, Xbox 360, and MCV, saw 135 people take part in the golf and more than 150 attend the evening’s dinner. A video was shown featuring the charities and individuals GamesAid has helped in the past year before prizes were awarded for the day’s golfing, and a live auction for a signed England shirt donated by SCE UK, which raised £2,500.
Richard Stickler, GamesAid Trustee, said: “I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the sponsors and everyone who took part in the event making it such an enormous success. I’m immensely proud to see the real difference events like this make when the money’s put to work”. He added: “Special thanks to Louise Powell and Emilie George for raising £2,500 selling golf balls and mulligans throughout the day, and the Promotional girls and HoneyandLime.com cocktail bar who donated their services raising £650 from cleaning dirty balls”.
Tony Samuel, Head of Fundraising and Communications for Winston’s Wish, added: “Every pound raised will make a huge difference. GamesAid has been a fantastic supporter of Winston’s Wish and the other charities here. On behalf of all the children and families that will benefit: many, many thanks”.
Rupert Loman, GamesAid Trustee, said: “Thanks to Gem, the Golf & Spa day sponsors, and everyone who attended the event, an astonishing amount of money has been raised for GamesAid. Nominations and voting will soon begin to allow the games industry to decide which causes GamesAid will support in 2010.”
Chris Peacock, Group Director of Gem, added: “This is a great endorsement for the industry. Every publisher, distributor, and retailer has been represented here and together we’ve achieved something truly amazing. My sincere thanks to everyone involved”.
Tickets and Sponsorship packages for next year’s event will go on sale shortly.
The charities supported by GamesAid this year, who also attended the event were: Willow Foundation, Special Effects, Winston’s Wish, Action for Kids, and the Royal Hospital for Neuro Disability.
A special note of thanks to the Lomans and EGTV for creating the video which you can see on the home page of this site
10th
May
2010
Hats off to our friends at Grainger Games who organised a charity football match in aid of GamesAid at St James Park, Newcastle United’s home ground on the day after the General Election - May 7th 2010.
Grainger Games fielded 38 staff in the tournament in front of friends and family to cheer them on. Each of the players made a donation and a collection was held all with all proceeds going to GamesAid.
Phil Moore from Grainger Games who organised the event “We were delighted to be playing at such a prestigious ground and had a really fun day and are making a decent GamesAid donation”.
If you want to help the cause, you can donate online at http://www.justgiving.com/gamesaid/Donate.
23rd
April
2010
Some games industry people will be recovering from the epic, the legendary, the gargantuan even MCV Awards last night, whilst others will be preparing for another day at the grindstone, but at least the sun is shining and the weekend is almost upon us.
Thanks to the GamesAid trustees in attendance Sarah and Caroline who did the leg work collecting the money, dealing with hecklers and smiling all the way, the 600 strong audience at the awards raised a whopping and equally gargantuan £2485 including 3, yes 3, £1 coins and a lovely pen, which is nice. That money goes into the GamesAid pot which you the members will vote as to where this goes again this year in the forthcoming poll. Incidentally, whilst we were a little down on our target of £6000, we did smash last year’s total of £1325, so that is fabulous news. Way to go as our American friends would say.
A huge thanks to Stuart and Kathryn at Intent Media for making this happen, to Richard at Gem Distribution and the lovely people at Logitech, who donated the prizes, the rather wonderful Squeezebox Radios, there will be 10 lucky people tuning into the internet radio today via their wi-fi, enjoy!
21st
April
2010
Fresh on the heels of the support for GamesAid shown by The British Inspiration Awards, we have news that more companies are helping us help our chosen charities
Thanks to our lovely friends over at Intent Media, Gem Distribution and Logitech, GamesAid are raffling 10 brilliant Logitech prizes tomorrow night at the MCV Awards. So if you're going to the MCV Awards, make sure you bring an extra tenner for our very good cause.If you put your £10 you get the chance to win a brilliant prize offered by Gem Distribution and Logitech.
All tenners collected with a name and table number written on them will go into a raffle to win one of 10 Squeezebox Radios worth £160 each. Envelopes will be provided on every table and there will be unmissable GamesAid helpers collecting the donations. All prizes will be given out on the night.
"We're delighted that everyone at the MCV Awards will have the opportunity to put a little cash into GamesAid’ commented MCV publisher and Intent Media boss Stuart Dinsey."Just think, if everyone there put in £10 then Gamesaid could make as much as £6,000 on the night. So don't even think, please just give." For those of you attending the awards, have great fun and enjoy the evening.
19th
April
2010
Celebrating the people and the achievements that have helped put the Great into Great Britain, The British Inspiration Awards have been created to recognise those who have contributed to our country’s economic, social and artistic development through creative endeavour.
British excellence around the world is to be recognised in Film, Television, Music, Fashion, the Arts, Design, Science and Technology and Interactive Entertainment. There is also Special Recognition and Innovation, Enterprise and Industry awards.
http://www.britishinspirationawards.co.uk/about.htmlThe British Inspiration Awards are supporting GamesAid and The Dallaglio Foundation and at GamesAid we raise our hats to them and wish them the very best of luck!
23rd
February
2010
GamesAid are auctioning a set of life size Tekken figures courtesy of the lovely people at Bandai Namco for GamesAid available now at eBay
http://tiny.cc/DXTGw
15th
February
2010
It has been a long time since I have done any specific charity challenges, too long really. Indeed I really miss the various Kilimanjaro climbs and London Marathons that I have done with some of you and so when a good friend of mine asked me if I would like to join him on the fifth and final leg of the Dallaglio Sport Relief Cycleslam, I thought it was a good idea and would get me back in the groove, so to speak. The challenge for me and the people in our team is simple, cycle 549 km starting on March 5th from Rosslare in Ireland via Croke Rark, Dublin to Murrayfield, Edinburgh, in time to see the Scotland vs England Calcutta Cup match on the 13th of March.
The whole jaunt is being organised by England and Wasps rugby legend, Lawrence Dallaglio and we are raising money for Sport Relief and the newly formed Dallaglio Foundation – our target is a nice round £1,000, 000. Lawrence is leading the team through all 5 stages, over 2800 Km in all. Each stage takes in a Six Nations stadium or two, in fact you may have seen the team start on Friday 12th February – riding through the first snow in the Rome area for 25 years!
The good news is that I am looking forward to cycling with my good friend David Yarnton. The not so good news is that I am taking the place of a rider who has had to drop out very much at the last minute. I actually agreed to have a go at this cycling caper last week, and as you will see from the picture on the website, I have not had time to kit up properly yet, http://www.dallagliocycleslam.com/participants/stage-5 let alone do the training. So I am relying on the support of Mr Yarnton and of course my sponsors to drive me on. That is where you could come in....
If you would like to support me and Sport Relief and The Dallaglio Foundation who in turn support Cancer Research UK, Help for Heroes, RPA Benevolent Fund, DebRA, and Leukaemia Research, I would really appreciate it – you can do this simply and efficiently on line at our Just Giving page, http://www.justgiving.com/David-Yarnton-AussieDogonWheels
You can follow the fun(?) and follow our exploits at www.twitter.com/percyblakeney 63 if that rocks your boat. Every penny counts, so don’t be shy, we need all we can!
Take care and all the best, see some if not all of you at Murrayfield! Andy Payne
1st
February
2010
David Cameron has backed Special Effect which was one of the charities that GamesAid members voted to sponsor recently.
For the full story, see Gamesindustry.biz
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/cameron-backs-accessible-gaming-charity
27th
January
2010
Annual entertainment industry charity golf and spa event sells out in record time
Thanks to the success of last year’s event, the 3rd Annual Charity Golf and Spa day set for the 27th May 2010 sold out in a record three months thanks to great support from those attending. Those involved and attending the day include the likes of Microsoft, Nintendo, Sega, Asda, Logitech, Game, Namco Bandai, EA and Codemasters, along with many more.
GamesAid would like to thank all those who are participating in the event in May and are proud to announce that the event is on target to smash last year’s charitable donation of £32,024.
Although the Golf Day is sold out there are still spaces available for the Spa and the evening’s Awards Dinner. The Spa Day is a great way to incentivise your staff and the dinner is the perfect opportunity to take your clients to a prestigious networking event with key figures in the industry.
“You get a great buzz when your event is a sell out, especially a charitable one,“ commented Richard Stickler, GamesAid Trustee. “I cannot thank people enough for taking part in this years event. Without the industry‘s support, we would not be able to do all the amazing things with the money raised - evidence of which will be shown at the evening awards dinner. It would be amazing if we could sell out on the Spa day too. What a great way to treat yourself or incentivise your staff as a prize, with all proceeds going to a fantastic cause.“
Get involved and play your part, for more information on the Entertainment Industry’s Annual Golf and Spa Day 2010, and to register for the Spa Day and Dinner, please contact Richard Stickler on 01279 822832.
13th
January
2010
Happy new year to one and all, let's hope 2010 brings health and hope all round.
A massive thank you to Relentless Software who have donated a whopping £1400 to GamesAid, the money they saved by not buying and sending out Christmas cards last month. Hats off to the boys and girls from Brighton for making the season of goodwill the season of helping others who are less able to help themselves. Thank you from all at GamesAid!
26th
November
2009
Activision & Infinity Ward have just announced a new initiative in conjunction with Game and Xbox Live in support of the charity War Child, called Game for good.
During the weekend of the 5th & 6th of December if over 600,000 UK users log on to play Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, a donation will be made to War Child of £150,000, with £25,000 donated for every 100,000 users after that, up to a maximum of £250,000
GAME will also be selling War Child wrist bands instore, and Xbox Live Gold Membership will be free on that weekend, to ensure that as many people as possible are able to play the game online.
For more information about the initiative, about War Child, or to get a Twibbon to show your support, a Facebook fans page has been set up at www.facebook.com/GameforGood
18th
November
2009
We gave you the news that GamesAid will be supporting the following charities this year and that we would give you all some more information about how the money will be spent, well here it is:-
Royal Hospital for Neuro Disability
This charity specialises in assessing and providing rehabilitation for young adults who have a high dependency as a result of long term neurological conditions or acquired brain injuries incurred.
The £11,000 donation from GamesAid will help to purchase essential electronic Assistive Technology, for 226 patients and residents currently cared for by the Hospital.
The Willow Foundation
This charity is a national charity that provides special days for seriously ill young adults.
The £12,800 GamesAid donation will help to give eight young adults living with muscular dystrophy the chance to choose a special day which will fulfil a unique wish that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. It would cover the organisation of the day from transport, accommodation, physical adaptations or medical support required.
Action For Kids
This charity works both locally and nationally to assist children and young people with physical, sensory and or learning disabilities to lead full and independent lives. This is done by a number of various from funding mobility equipment, family support service; work related learning placements for disabled young people and training for independence.
The £11,000 GamesAid donation will help 8 children who need mobility equipment to help them improve their quality of life.
Special Effect
This charity is one of which some of you may be aware of. It is dedicated to helping ALL young people with disabilities to enjoy computer games. For these children, the majority of computer games are simply too quick or too difficult to play, and we can help them and their parents to find out which games they CAN play, and how to adapt those games that they can't.
The £11,000 GamesAid donation will help fund the GameOn4EveryOne Roadshow for disability groups in the Thames Valley. There will be 16 shows, which will reach 250 people with disabilities. Equipment will be purchased to make these roadshows go ahead, and between each of the roadshows, it will be available for occasional use at the Helen and Douglas House Hospice to help young people with life limiting conditions at the hospice. The Game for Helen Special Effect computer games suite will help a further 300 guests at the hospice.
Winston’s Wish
This charity provides professional services to children, who have been bereaved of a parent or sibling, to enable them to live with their grief, build confidence and reach their full potential. The £11,000 GamesAid donation will provide 5 children and their families to benefit from a unique programme of support.
4th
November
2009
Hats and shirts off to Rosemary Dalton and the PES team at Konami for donating a signed framed Fernando Torres shirt for GamesAid to auction. We are currently figuring out the best way to do this, but any creative ideas are most welcome!
3rd
November
2009
Congratulations to Rebecca Lindon at Bethesda who recently ran the Birmingham half marathon and Thomas Fide who ran the Stroud half marathon on the 25th October, both raising money for GamesAid. We salute you!
29th
October
2009
Apologies for the enormous time lapse between communications, it was back in August that we last wrote to all the members, but we can finally announce the charities that you have voted to support.
More detail will follow early next week, plus a list of thank yous for all the work done by members and others since last time. GamesAid have decided to award a minimum of £11,000 each to the following charities. We still have one charity to announce, which we are still working on. So here goes, in no particular order of votes cast:- • Royal Hospital for Neuro Disability • The Willow Foundation • Action for Kids • Special Effect • Winston’s Wish
28th
August
2009
The GamesAid cricket team have boiled and pressed their whites in readiness for the annual cricket match against the amazingly distinguished "Pitney B". Each year it's a close tricky battle with the hopes of many resting on a knife edge. This year each of the players are contributing their match fee to Games Aid. If you would like to contribute as well - we would be incredibly grateful... So please dig deep and donate now. http://www.justgiving.com/Games-Aid-CC/
13th
August
2009
The Mastertronic and Just Flight team conquered the 3 Peaks last weekend and a massive thanks to all of you who sponsored them.
The team of Martyn Northall, Dermot Stapleton, Richard Slater and Matthew West-Robinson completed the challenge in 27 hours 20 mins which is completely brilliant.
Martyn Northall commented “As with any challenge, we had our fair share of setbacks and complications but we managed to overcome these and achieve a very respectable time. We are delighted to have raised a total of £530 for GamesAid so far, making the aches and pains seem all the more worthwhile! We are already planning our next fundraising challenge, suggestions ranging from the Pennine way to the Marathon des Sables! But for now we are enjoying the comfort of being back behind our PCs....”
The detail on the trek worked out like this:- Snowdon – 5hrs 01min Scarfell – 5hrs 47mins Ben Nevis – 7hrs 02mins Total climbing time – 17hrs 50 mins Snowdon->Scarfell – 4hrs 30mins Scafell->Ben Nevis – 5hrs Total driving time – 9hrs 30 mins Total time = 27hrs 20 mins
Hats off to all 4 of them and a massive thanks from all of us at GamesAid!
7th
August
2009
Many members of GamesAid have asked us if they can help good causes by giving up some of their time. Well we have listened to you and have hooked up with fellow charity BAFTA to help with their completely brilliant mentoring scheme. So if you fancy giving up some of your time to mentor young people in video games design then contact fellow GamesAid member Kelly Smith kellys@bafta.org . The deadline to complete your application to take part is Monday 24th of August and after that there is a training session on the 15th of September. The mentoring programme itself takes place during London Games Festival (26th - 29th October). We would hope that your companies would help you with time off to do this!
5th
August
2009
The Mastetronic/Just Flight team who are attacking the 3 Peaks are greasing their limbs and packing their kit as we type. They need all the sponsorship help we can muster - so if you are able to sponsor them, please dig deep.
Every pound counts just go to http://www.justgiving.com/MastertronicThreePeaksChallenge/
1st
August
2009
The voting has now closed and the votes are being counted. It was a very close run thing indeed and the Trustees will be announcing the results soon. Thanks to everyone who took the time to nominate the charities and thanks also to every member who cast their vote.
31st
July
2009
Less than hours to go for GamesAid's membership to vote for their charity of choice.
So far, 35% of the membership has cast their votes, which means we are on course to beat the UK electorate's percentage at a General Election. There's still time, so cast your vote now, don't delay! Every vote will count in this really tightly contested poll!
28th
July
2009
So far we have had votes from 41 members - so 18% of the votes have been cast thus far. Only 77 hours to go! It is going to be very, very tight and every vote will count.
28th
July
2009
Thanks to our GamesAid member and web genius Craig Munro, you will very soon be able to re-set your passwords. In the rush to become GamesAid members, some of you have forgotten passwords. Fear not help is on it's way. You will be able to re-set them within the next 24 hours so you can indeed go to the voting ball.
27th
July
2009
Rory Donnelly from THQ France is a very good friend of GamesAid and he along with one or two others decided to organise a charity run at IDEF in Cannes and it was a massive success!
Over 200 people ran the race on the main drag in Cannes, with police motorbikes leading the way and bringing up the rear. The streets were barricaded off for the runners and the scene was completed by a swathe of brazilian dancers, TV and press. The noble jaunt raised over €68K for the charity Centre Francais pour Protection d'Enfance (French Center for Child Protection). Rory commented, ' It was a lot of work but great fun and well worth it. I think everyone experienced a huge 'feel good factor' and next year's run is already being planned. I reckon we are likely to get a lot more people'. You can check out the photos at
27th
July
2009
GamesAid Tackles the 3 Peaks
Just Flight and MasterTronic Take on Three Peaks Challenge for GamesAid - an intrepid team of four from Just Flight and Mastertronic will be tackling the tough Three Peaks Challenge on 7th August 2009.
Martyn Northall, Richard Slater, Matt West-Robinson and Dermot Stapleton will trek over 26 miles in under 24 hours, up and down Ben Nevis (4406ft), Scafell Pike (3206ft) and Snowdon (3560ft), the three highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales.
"We are delighted to be able to tackle the Three Peaks Challenge with the support of GamesAid. Hopefully together we will raise some money for a good cause," commented Richard Slater, Just Flight.
The GamesAid Three Peaks Challenge Team can be sponsored at http://www.justgiving.com/MastertronicThreePeaksChallenge.
27th
July
2009
Thanks to the blinding efforts of Andrew Eades, Mark Ward (runner up!), Rupert Loman and all the staff at Relentless Software, GamesAid's Poker Night at the Develop Conference raised in excess of a whopping £5,000!
GamesAid will be running another tournament to co-incide with the London Games Festival in October. More details will follow soon.
27th
July
2009
Don't forget that all GamesAid members have until 11.59 on Friday 31st of July to place their unique vote for one of the nominated charities. Please don't forget to vote, many charities are waiting to hear the outcome of the very first poll. The top 6 charities that get the most votes will benefit and your vote will count! Thank you on behalf of all the good causes put forward so far. You can vote here at the voting page.
14th
July
2009
A big thanks to Frances Shortt who sent in a load of merchandise from Atari and Caroline Van Venrooij from Sega. This is all going into our eBay shop which has raised £724.60 so far thanks to those who have donated all sorts of lovely things.
Annoyingly, eBay have now put new rules on postage (see http://pages.ebay.co.uk/sell/april2009/pandp.html), as a result we have incurred £97.80 worth of postage, but going forward we will ensure we add postage into the starting price or the Buy Now prices so GamesAid and our chosen charities are not penalised.
Don’t forget, if you have any unwanted games, merchandise, POS indeed anything we will be happy to sell it with all proceeds ex post going to GamesAid.
As a quick reminder send to:
The Producers
2 Stonehill
Stukeley Meadows
Huntingdon
PE29 6ED
13th
July
2009
Big thanks to fellow trustee Richard Stickler and all the team at Gem plus fellow sponsors THQ, Xbox 360, Play.com, Logitech and Nintendo, have finished tallying up the money raised at the GamesAid Golf and Spa day. The event raised an amazing £32,061. Last year it was £20,000 and the year before £9,870. So we are going in the right direction despite being smack in the middle of a recession and all that credit crunchie stuff. Amazing.
13th
June
2009
Register your place at the GameHorizon Conference charity poker tournament, for your chance to win a cash prize of £700.
Hosted by Ian Livingstone, this 007 themed party including a Texas Hold'em poker tournament, will take place at .Sea' night club, on Newcastle Quayside, and will start at 6.30pm.
A seat costs just £30, and all proceeds will go to GamesAid. The session will run from 6.30 - 10pm, with possible option for re-buys, which will be announced on the night. To book a place please register at http://www.justgiving.com/nickywilkinson1.
12th
June
2009
GamesAid, the UK games industry charity for children and young people, today extended the deadline for members to advocate their own chosen charities as recipients of GamesAid funding up until a closing date of 14th July 2009. Voting will then open on the 15th of July and then close at midnight on 31st of July 2009.
"We have decided to extend the deadline for two reasons. Firstly we have listened to our members who wanted more time to advocate their charities and canvass support. Secondly, we want more members aboard to get a broader church and therefore a more exciting election" commented Andy Payne, Chairman, GamesAid. "GamesAid needs your help. Tell your friends and colleagues in the industry to get involved and join up, the more members we get the better represented we are."
All fundraising donations are gratefully received at www.justgiving.com/gamesaid.
14th
May
2009
GamesAid, the UK games industry charity for children and young people, today launched a free industry membership scheme at www.gamesaid.org.
The GamesAid membership scheme will allow those working in the computer and video game industry to register to receive news updates and support fundraising events, as well as advocate their own chosen charities as recipients of GamesAid funding up until a closing date of 14th June 2009. Voting for charities then opens for two weeks and successful nominations will be announced at the Develop Awards in Brighton in July.
"The GamesAid membership scheme really underlines our mission statement to operate the charity as an all inclusive part of the games industry, in an open and transparent way, engaging as many different industry professionals as possible," commented Andy Payne, Chairman, GamesAid. "GamesAid will continue to encourage individuals, teams and companies to contribute through fundraising and events, big and small, and we believe the new membership scheme will afford everybody a voice in how the industry's charity is run. If you have any ideas for fundraising or which charities should benefit from GamesAid funds, sign up today on GamesAid.org. GamesAid is your charity, so have your say."
Recent fundraising events have included a successful Guinness World Record for 24 hour gaming by the Ready-up.net editorial team and an industry raffle at the MCV Awards.
Forthcoming events include a charity poker tournament at the Grosvenor Casino, Brighton on the eve of the Develop Conference & Expo in Brighton in July. Players of all levels can find further details at http://www.justgiving.com/gamesaidpokerdevelop09.
The GamesAid membership scheme launched today at www.gamesaid.org. All fundraising donations are gratefully received at www.justgiving.com/gamesaid.
16th
May
2008
GamesAid has today been unveiled to the games industry. Many thanks to our friends at trade publications MCV, In-Stock and GamesIndustry.biz for their coverage.#
Via this website you will be able to find out what is happening with GamesAid and get involved. You will be able to suggest charities to be supported, find out what events are happening and also see where the money has been going.
If you have any suggestions or would like to pledge some money, please use our contact form - Our Just Giving page will be up and running soon.
We'll also make some graphics available for you to use on your websites and e-mail footers to help raise the awareness of GamesAid in the games industry. And to show your support and discuss GamesAid please join our Facebook group.
Thanks for your support!
