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Charity Elections 2025

The 1st phase of the GamesAid 2025/2026 Charity Election is now open!

From today to 28th February 2025, charities can register or nominate themselves for a chance to be selected as one of the five GamesAid charities for 2025/2026.

The registration form is now open.

What is GamesAid?

GamesAid is an umbrella charity founded by the UK video games industry that fundraises and supports for an assortment of causes across the country on behalf of the sector.

Run by a board of voluntary trustees, GamesAid is also a membership organisation – allowing people in the UK games industry (employees, freelancers or attendees of relevant academic causes/institutions) to both participate in fundraising events and to take part in selecting and electing the causes for support each year.

How does GamesAid’s selection process work?

Each year, GamesAid runs an election process with its membership to identify a range of causes the industry wishes to back.

This year, GamesAid will be selecting five charities to support on behalf of the industry between April 2025 and April 2026.

As well as raising funds for those causes, GamesAid will also be providing direct support to each charity selected to help it engage successfully with the sector and to provide support throughout the year for their cause.

Nominations for charities will open, with the election set to take place in April to determine the causes we will support.

Which types of charities do GamesAid support?

GamesAid supports a range of charities helping primarily children and young people, especially those who are vulnerable or disadvantaged, in a number of different ways.

This could range from medical support, to enabling social mobility, to offering pastoral care, to supporting individuals with disabilities or conditions, to providing access to community services, and much more.

GamesAid operates on an inclusive basis and adopts a positive approach to allowing a range of charities into the election. We therefore encourage charities to build connections with industry to get nominated

How does the election work?

All charities that are successfully nominated and meet the eligibility criteria will be entered into a ballot of the GamesAid membership.

Each member will be allowed to select five charities on the ballot paper, which will be distributed through Choice Voting’s electronic voting platform.

The election will be conducted on a first past the post basis, with the five top causes securing the support of the charity for the coming year.

In the case of a tie, the GamesAid trustees will vote on whether to support additional causes.

What is the criteria for charities to qualify?

  1. Their main goal and activities are in support of disadvantaged children and young people.
  2. It has a turnover of less than £3 million per year.
  3. It spends less than 30% on administrative costs.

Charities must also be proposed by a GamesAid member, which is defined as someone who works in the UK games industry (as an employee, freelancer or within a relevant education course) and who has signed up as a member of our charity at https://www.gamesaid.org/membership.

I have a question about the process/I need help with the process.

Please email the GamesAid team at charityelections@gamesaid.org for more information.